On the occasion of World Population Day, which is celebrated on 11 July, the Basque Youth Observatory presents some demographic data on the Basque Country as of 1 January 2023.
The total population of the Basque Country has maintained very moderate levels of growth since it surpassed 2,000,000 inhabitants for the first time in 1975. The young population, on the other hand, experienced a continuous and intense decline until 2017, when the number of people aged between 15 and 29 hit rock bottom at 284,184. Since then it has experienced a gradual increase, recovering in 2023, with 319,744 young people, the 2011 figure.
The internal structure of the 15-29 age group subdivided by five-year age groups shows a fairly homogeneous distribution, although the group of 15-19 year olds is the largest, with 34.9% of the total (111,517), followed by the 20-24 year olds who account for 33.1% (105,876) and, finally, the 25-29 year olds who account for 32.0% of young people (102,351). In all three age groups there are more men than women.
By historical territories, 50.9% of the population aged 15 to 29 in the Basque Country resides in Bizkaia (162,592 young people in 2023), 34.4% in Gipuzkoa (109,984 young people) and the remaining 14.8% in Alava (47,168). From 2021 to 2023, the increase in the young population was slightly higher in Alava and Gipuzkoa (5.4 and 5.2 percentage points, respectively) than in Bizkaia (with an increase of 4.4 points).
However, in absolute terms, in the last 20 years (from 2003 to 2023) Alava has lost 15,268 young people, Gipuzkoa 25,710 and Bizkaia 65,053.
As a result of this negative evolution, the youth index or proportion of young people with respect to the population as a whole was decreasing until 2017, when it recorded its lowest value of 13.1%, before slowly recovering to reach 14.6% in 2023. This value places the Basque Country 1.3 points below the average index for Spain (15.9 %), ahead only of Asturias (12.0 %), Galicia (12.9 %), Castilla y León (13.4 %) and Cantabria (13.8 %).
In fact, the Basque Country is among the oldest regions in the EU, with an average youth rate of 16.2%. However, the gap with the EU average is narrowing; in 2023 it is 1.6 percentage points compared to 3.2 points in 2010.
This data on Demographics and Population can be consulted in the Online Indicator System of the Basque Youth Observatory.
