Preliminary data from the 2016 census show a decreasing birth rate and increasing mortality, said the Costa Rican Census and Statistics Institute (INEC) today.

In 2016 there were 1,815 fewer births in Costa Rica than in 2015. In relative values, a birth rate of 14.31 per thousand inhabitants was observed in 2016, while in 2015 the rate was 14.86.

Mothers from Costa Rica and Nicaragua accounted for 95 percent of the 70,004 births in 2016 in Costa Rica, with 81.2 percent born in Costa Rica, and 13.6 percent in Nicaragua.

On the other hand, general mortality has increased slowly but steadily from 2005 – 2016. While in 2005, the rate was 3.83 per thousand inhabitants, in 2016 it was 4.62.

This slow uptick in the mortality rate is mainly due to the aging of the country’s population, the sustained reduction in fertility, and the increase in the life expectancy of the population, said the INEC.