Births in Colombia continue to fall while deaths are rising slightly

The National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) presented this Friday – September 20 – the most recent balance of birth and death statistics in the country, which reaffirms the idea that fewer and fewer people are choosing to have children, while life expectancy remains on the rise, accelerating the possibility that population decline will come sooner than expected.

According to reports from the statistical authority, 255,055 live births were recorded during the first half of 2024, a figure that translates into a 15.2% reduction in the number of births compared to the same period in 2023. Likewise, the lowest figure was reached in the period between 2015 and 2024.

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“The proportion of births to mothers with higher education — ranging from professional technical education to postgraduate studies — has increased in almost the entire national territory, except in Chocó. In adolescents aged 15 to 19, births to mothers with one or more previous children were reduced from 17.5% in 2015 to 14.1% in 2024 (preliminary figures),” says the Dane report.

Taking into account that 377,024 births were registered in the period January-July 2015, it is clear that in the last 10 years the number of live births in the entire national territory has fallen by more than 30% (121,969), thus maintaining a trend that for now shows no signs of reversing.

As regards the characterization of births by place, the report It shows that the majority continues to occur in the urban sector, although for women with low levels of education, the highest concentration continues to be reported in rural areas, mainly for those mothers who only completed primary school or do not have any type of academic training.

“Between 2015 and 2024, by department of residence of the mother, the share of live births to mothers with some type of higher education, from professional technical education to postgraduate studies, increases in all territories, except Chocó. The department with the greatest increase in the share of births to mothers with higher education is Atlántico, with percentages ranging from 26.8% in 2015 to 42.8% in 2024,” they noted in these records.

Teenage motherhood

Another of the approaches of the Dane to understand the dynamics of births is that of age. There they reported that during the last decade there has been an increase in the participation of first-time mothers among those who report ranges of 15 to 44 years, accompanied by a fall in the participation of those women who report having two or more previous children.

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“The share of births to mothers with 2 or more previous children only increases among those who report ages 45 and older, going from representing 61.5% in 2015 to 66.4% in 2024 (…) In younger mothers, the reduction in the number of previous children is observed from those who report one previous child, so the percentage of births to adolescent mothers aged 15 to 19 with 1 or more previous children is reduced, going from 17.5% in 2015 to 14.1% in 2024. The same behavior is seen among mothers aged 20 to 24,” they said in this report.

Finally, one line of these figures that is worth highlighting is that of births. institutional, that is, those women who went to a medical center to be treated and did not give birth at home, since there is a notable improvement.

Piedad Urdinola, director of Dane.

Courtesy – API

In this section, the statistical authority reports that “since 2015, there has been a high percentage of institutional births, which averages 98.2% for the series analyzed. At a global level, the proportion of births assisted by qualified health personnel is 86% for 2023 and 96% for the Americas (WHO, 2023)”, while for 2024, only 1% of these births took place at home.

Increase in deaths

Dane data also reported that in 2023, the country registered a total of 266,771 deaths, maintaining the slightly increasing trend that was present until 2019, the same behavior is observed in the mortality rate, which for that period is 5.1 per 1,000 inhabitants.

Meanwhile, from January to July of this year, 160,523 deaths have been reported, which represents an increase of 1.9% compared to the same period in 2023, while in the current year series, the distribution of deaths by sex shows a constant trend, with a slight predominance of deaths in men, representing 54.3%, while women correspond to 45.7%.

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“According to the life cycle, the total number of deaths of children aged 0 to 5 years shows a downward trend, with an even more noticeable decline in 2024, reporting 3,674 deaths, 715 deaths less than a year ago, which means a reduction of 16.3%,” the entity reported.

Regarding the life cycles of childhood, adolescence, youth, young adulthood and mature adulthood, these show a decrease in the number of deaths when compared to 2023, while the trend in deaths of older adults is slightly increasing, increasing by 4,635 deaths, which is quantified at 4.1%.

Deaths.

Finally, it must be said that ischemic heart diseases They remain the main cause of death, accounting for 16.8% of all deaths. However, deaths from infectious intestinal diseases and acute respiratory infections have shown a worrying increase.

“Between January and July 2024, 989 deaths were recorded, which represents an increase of 26.8% compared to the same period of the previous year. The most affected departments include Tolima with an increase of 115%, Bolívar with 105.6%, Cundinamarca with 55.5%, Antioquia with 46.8% and Boyacá with 46.2%,” said the Dane.

Regarding Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI), the Dane indicated that in the measured period, 7,278 deaths from ARI and COVID-19 have been recorded, which meant an increase of 11.6% compared to the 6,521 deaths in the same period in 2023. Likewise, in the population with black, mulatto, Afro-Colombian, ethnic racial recognition, Afro-descendants, these deaths increased from 185 cases to 203 in these two years.