Spain population hits all-time high

Spain is now home to more inhabitants than ever before. Census data published this week by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), puts the number of people registered as resident in Spain on January 1st 2022 at 47,475,420, a historical high, and 90,313 more inhabitants compared to the previous year (a 0.19% increase).

This figure, according to the INE, represents a recovery from the decline recorded in 2020, a year marked by deaths due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the recovery is mainly due to a rise in the foreign population, which increased by 102,784 people to 5,542,932 people and now accounts for 11.7% of the total, a trend that has not been recorded since 2013.

A decade ago, the percentage of foreigners registered as resident was 12.1%, a figure that then fell to 9.8% in 2017, the lowest figure in the last decade. The remaining population, 41,932,488, all has Spanish nationality, a number that has dropped by 12,471 people compared to the previous year. 

The average age of the population registered in the census is 44.1 years. The average age of Spaniards is 45 years and that of foreigners overall is 37.1 years. The average age of residents from other European Union countries is 39.6 years. 

The highest average ages among the predominant nationalities are found among citizens of the United Kingdom (54.1 years), Germany (50.0) and France (43). On the other hand, the lowest ones correspond to citizens of Honduras (30.4 years), Pakistan (31.1) and Morocco (32). 

The regions with the highest number of foreigners are Andalusia (741,378), Aragon (164,762) and Asturias (45,630); those with the lowest presence of non-Spanish nationals are La Rioja (41,755), Melilla (11,675) and Ceuta (4,910).

Residents from other European Union countries account for a total of 1,617,911 people out of the almost 5.5 million non-Spaniards. Of these, the most numerous are Romanians (623,097), followed by Italians (273,889) and Germans (115,099). 

Of the remaining foreigners registered, the following nationalities stand out as having a high representation: Moroccans (883,243), Colombians (314,679) and Britons (293,171).

As a result of the war with Russia, the number of Ukrainian residents increased considerably in 2022 and they are now among the 20 predominant foreign nationalities in Spain (111,443).

With respect to the most populated regions, those with the most inhabitants registered on January 1st 2022 are Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid. Those at the bottom of the list are La Rioja, Cantabria and Navarra.

Of the 8,131 total municipalities in Spain, 4,991 have a population of less than one thousand inhabitants: more than 2,000 of those can be found in Castilla y León, around 630 in Castilla-La Mancha and 620 in Aragón.

In terms of larger municipalities, there are 64 municipalities in Spain with more than 100,000 inhabitants: 13 in Andalusia, 11 in Catalonia and 10 in the Community of Madrid.