Effects of Internal and International Migration on Birth Replacement: A Regional Analysis in Spain, 1975-2005.

Luis Alberto Del Rey Poveda, Universidad de Salamanca
José Antonio Ortega, United Nations

The aim of this study is to analyze the population reproduction in Spanish regions since 1975 to 2005, using a new indicator, the Birth Replacement Ratio (BRR). In contexts of low or very low levels of fertility and mortality, migration becomes a determinant factor in demographic dynamics. The traditional indicators used for analyzing the population reproduction, Total Fertility Rate (TFR) and Net Reproduction Rate (NRR), do not incorporate the effect of migration, hence they are incapable of reporting the real situation. The Birth Replacement Ratio incorporates the effect of migration on the evolution of births and gives a precise indication of the reproductive situation of a population at each moment. Using this indicator, we observe that both internal and international migration have marked the different reproductive situation in Spanish regions since the seventies.