Spain’s ‘oldest’ regions by average age according to the INE

THE average age of people in Asturias is about 48 years old, making it the oldest region by that measure in Spain according to new National Institute for Statistics (INE) data.

INE figures from 2018 show the average age overall for Spain was 43. The youngest part of Spain is the African enclave of Melilla which has an average age of 35.

Asturias was followed by Castilla y Leon with an average age of 47.3, Galicia with 47.1, the Basque Country with 45 and Aragon, 44.

The youngest regions after Melilla were the African enclave of Ceuta with an average age of 37, Murcia with 40, the Balearic Islands with 41 and the Canary Islands,41.9.

The average age of people in Andalucia was almost 41.6, while in Valencia it stood at 42.

INE data showed that the overall average age for Spain has been rising since the 1990s. The average age stood at 39.2 in 1998 before rising to 40 in 2001, 31 in 2010 and 42 in 2014.

It comes as official figures showed that 179,794 babies were born in Spain during the first half of last year, the lowest since records began in 1941. A decline in the number of births and people living longer has contributed to a rise in the average age.