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Foreign incomers push population above 48 million for first time ever
22/02/2024
SPAIN'S headcount has risen to its highest figure in history – for the first time ever, the population has broken the 48 million barrier.
If the trend of the 2020s continues, the country could easily surpass the 50-million mark before the end of the decade, based upon an average of between a half and three-quarters of a million new residents every year.
As has been the case for many years now, the swelling headcount is almost entirely due to immigration, not to childbirth, since natality rates have been falling consistently since the end of the last century and average ages for first-time motherhood have continued to rise.
Headcount rises in all regions and number of household units soars
According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), as at January 1 this year, the exact number of inhabitants in Spain was 48,592,909, having gone up by 507,548 since January 1, 2023.
These official figures do not include foreign-born residents without permits, or who have not signed on their local town hall population census, known as the padrón, meaning the total is likely to be higher and may well already be above 50 million.
The overwhelming majority of the annual increase is through non-Spanish-born citizens moving to the country, with foreigners currently totally around 6.5 million, or approximately 13%.
Population increases were seen in all regions in Spain, although the most notable expansions were found in the city-province of Melilla on the northern African coasr, with its headcount of roughly 90,000 rising by 0.64%, followed by the Greater Madrid region (0.44%) and the Comunidad Valenciana along the east coast (0.41%).
Along with the population rise, the number of households in Spain has multiplied – in some cases linked to the rising resident figures, and in others, due to couples separating or young people moving out of their parental homes.
Spain's 48.6 million residents live in 19,346,386 household units – an increase of 45,560 over the last three months of 2023.
In real terms, population growth has fallen
Although it may seem as though resident numbers are multiplying more and more every year, the reality is that the financial crisis years saw a major shrinkage, with inhabitants falling in number nearly down to 45 million for the first time in the 21st century.
And growth in the final quarter of 2023 was around half the average figure seen this decade – at 85,870, it was the lowest in over two years.
Each quarter from the beginning of 2020 onwards has seen a typical rise in numbers of anything from 1.09% to 1.31%, with the record being 172,000 people.
But the INE's census department, the CED says this is 'not all bad news', since the increase in headcount following the 18-month-long Covid crisis was 'extremely high'.
Professor of sociology and public opinion at Madrid Complutense University's Faculty of Sciences, Elisa Brey, particularly highlighted the fact that in just two years, Spain has gained over a million new residents.
“This is nearly 2% of the population, which means more public resources are going to be needed,” she says.
“But we're currently at levels of immigration not seen since what we referred to as the 'prodigy decade' – the 10 years leading up to the financial crisis of 2008.”
How many foreigners live in Spain?
The turn-of-the-century immigration boom was largely led by young, working-aged adults from non-EU nations with historic ties to Spain, typically Morocco, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia, and to a lesser but still sizeable extent by northern Europeans, a large percentage of whom were pensioners or early retirees.
Although the influx slowed considerably during the recession years, it never stopped entirely, and as Elisa Brey points out, is beginning to increase again – a sure sign of Spain's ongoing prosperity.
Of the 85,870 net population increase in the last three months of 2023, a total of 72,504 were foreign nationals, compared with just 13,366 Spaniards. Whilst the increase in Spanish residents was 1.06%, the rise in foreign residents was 6.6%.
And part of the 1.06% of additional Spaniards were foreign-born residents taking Spanish citizenship, either through residency or what the government refers to as 'the grandchildren's law'.
These accounted for 91,996 inhabitants becoming Spanish – people whose parents or grandparents had originally been born in Spain but were forced into exile during the Civil War of 1936-1939 or its subsequent dictatorship, which ended in 1975.
As at the start of 2024, foreign-born residents registered as living in Spain numbered exactly 6,491,502, representing 13.36% of the country's headcount.
But these figures do not include foreigners who have moved to Spain and then taken Spanish citizenship, as they are then registered as being among the national-born population.
In total, residents who are not Spanish or were not born on Spanish soil, irrespective of later changes in nationality, make up 8,775,213, or 18.1% of the country's headcount.
Net migration rises: Largest national groups
After dwindling dramatically in numbers – through returning 'home' due to lack of employment prospects, or becoming Spanish citizens – Colombian nationals, once the largest foreign-born group in Spain, are increasing in numbers. They represent the biggest population of foreign incomers in the final quarter of 2023, with 42,600 moving to Spain between October and December inclusive.
The second-largest arrival group was the Venezuelans, at 27,300, followed by Moroccans, at 25,800.
Pau Miret of the CED explains the rising figures of Colombian and Venezuelan citizens making Spain their home is due to 'a mass exodus' from these two countries as people 'flee the violence' in their home nations.
Moroccans have always been one of the largest, or the largest, diaspora in Spain, due to geographical proximity and the fact that two of Spain's cities share land borders with the northern African nation.
Statistics have not been mentioned for other nationalities, nor have the largest national communities currently in Spain been named, although Morocco and Romania typically top the list of the biggest diasporae. The gulf between the top two and the third- and fourth-largest groups – Germans and Britons - is normally significant, meaning their numbers are statistically very small, but tend to be similar and 'swap places' in the ranking constantly.
Elisa Brey says the largest output countries 'remain constant' in terms of arrival numbers, even at times with no real national emergency on home soil. The 'newest' diasporae are from Venezuela and Hondurás, she says, starting from 2015 and 2010 respectively when political upheaval led many to take the decision to leave – but newcomers to Spain from these countries continue at similar levels, even eight and 13 years after the original crises.
Outward migration continues, but in smaller numbers
By contrast, residents in Spain are continuing to leave the country permanently, with 10,400 Spanish nationals moving abroad in the final three months of last year, along with 9,500 Moroccans and 8,100 Romanians.
Net migration remains positive, however, assures Miret, which is 'tremendous' news, but 'levels of emigration are not exactly zero'.
He attributes this outward mobility to 'certain weaknesses in the national job market'.
Related Topics
SPAIN'S headcount has risen to its highest figure in history – for the first time ever, the population has broken the 48 million barrier.
If the trend of the 2020s continues, the country could easily surpass the 50-million mark before the end of the decade, based upon an average of between a half and three-quarters of a million new residents every year.
As has been the case for many years now, the swelling headcount is almost entirely due to immigration, not to childbirth, since natality rates have been falling consistently since the end of the last century and average ages for first-time motherhood have continued to rise.
Headcount rises in all regions and number of household units soars
According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), as at January 1 this year, the exact number of inhabitants in Spain was 48,592,909, having gone up by 507,548 since January 1, 2023.
These official figures do not include foreign-born residents without permits, or who have not signed on their local town hall population census, known as the padrón, meaning the total is likely to be higher and may well already be above 50 million.
The overwhelming majority of the annual increase is through non-Spanish-born citizens moving to the country, with foreigners currently totally around 6.5 million, or approximately 13%.
Population increases were seen in all regions in Spain, although the most notable expansions were found in the city-province of Melilla on the northern African coasr, with its headcount of roughly 90,000 rising by 0.64%, followed by the Greater Madrid region (0.44%) and the Comunidad Valenciana along the east coast (0.41%).
Along with the population rise, the number of households in Spain has multiplied – in some cases linked to the rising resident figures, and in others, due to couples separating or young people moving out of their parental homes.
Spain's 48.6 million residents live in 19,346,386 household units – an increase of 45,560 over the last three months of 2023.
In real terms, population growth has fallen
Although it may seem as though resident numbers are multiplying more and more every year, the reality is that the financial crisis years saw a major shrinkage, with inhabitants falling in number nearly down to 45 million for the first time in the 21st century.
And growth in the final quarter of 2023 was around half the average figure seen this decade – at 85,870, it was the lowest in over two years.
Each quarter from the beginning of 2020 onwards has seen a typical rise in numbers of anything from 1.09% to 1.31%, with the record being 172,000 people.
But the INE's census department, the CED says this is 'not all bad news', since the increase in headcount following the 18-month-long Covid crisis was 'extremely high'.
Professor of sociology and public opinion at Madrid Complutense University's Faculty of Sciences, Elisa Brey, particularly highlighted the fact that in just two years, Spain has gained over a million new residents.
“This is nearly 2% of the population, which means more public resources are going to be needed,” she says.
“But we're currently at levels of immigration not seen since what we referred to as the 'prodigy decade' – the 10 years leading up to the financial crisis of 2008.”
How many foreigners live in Spain?
The turn-of-the-century immigration boom was largely led by young, working-aged adults from non-EU nations with historic ties to Spain, typically Morocco, Ecuador, Bolivia and Colombia, and to a lesser but still sizeable extent by northern Europeans, a large percentage of whom were pensioners or early retirees.
Although the influx slowed considerably during the recession years, it never stopped entirely, and as Elisa Brey points out, is beginning to increase again – a sure sign of Spain's ongoing prosperity.
Of the 85,870 net population increase in the last three months of 2023, a total of 72,504 were foreign nationals, compared with just 13,366 Spaniards. Whilst the increase in Spanish residents was 1.06%, the rise in foreign residents was 6.6%.
And part of the 1.06% of additional Spaniards were foreign-born residents taking Spanish citizenship, either through residency or what the government refers to as 'the grandchildren's law'.
These accounted for 91,996 inhabitants becoming Spanish – people whose parents or grandparents had originally been born in Spain but were forced into exile during the Civil War of 1936-1939 or its subsequent dictatorship, which ended in 1975.
As at the start of 2024, foreign-born residents registered as living in Spain numbered exactly 6,491,502, representing 13.36% of the country's headcount.
But these figures do not include foreigners who have moved to Spain and then taken Spanish citizenship, as they are then registered as being among the national-born population.
In total, residents who are not Spanish or were not born on Spanish soil, irrespective of later changes in nationality, make up 8,775,213, or 18.1% of the country's headcount.
Net migration rises: Largest national groups
After dwindling dramatically in numbers – through returning 'home' due to lack of employment prospects, or becoming Spanish citizens – Colombian nationals, once the largest foreign-born group in Spain, are increasing in numbers. They represent the biggest population of foreign incomers in the final quarter of 2023, with 42,600 moving to Spain between October and December inclusive.
The second-largest arrival group was the Venezuelans, at 27,300, followed by Moroccans, at 25,800.
Pau Miret of the CED explains the rising figures of Colombian and Venezuelan citizens making Spain their home is due to 'a mass exodus' from these two countries as people 'flee the violence' in their home nations.
Moroccans have always been one of the largest, or the largest, diaspora in Spain, due to geographical proximity and the fact that two of Spain's cities share land borders with the northern African nation.
Statistics have not been mentioned for other nationalities, nor have the largest national communities currently in Spain been named, although Morocco and Romania typically top the list of the biggest diasporae. The gulf between the top two and the third- and fourth-largest groups – Germans and Britons - is normally significant, meaning their numbers are statistically very small, but tend to be similar and 'swap places' in the ranking constantly.
Elisa Brey says the largest output countries 'remain constant' in terms of arrival numbers, even at times with no real national emergency on home soil. The 'newest' diasporae are from Venezuela and Hondurás, she says, starting from 2015 and 2010 respectively when political upheaval led many to take the decision to leave – but newcomers to Spain from these countries continue at similar levels, even eight and 13 years after the original crises.
Outward migration continues, but in smaller numbers
By contrast, residents in Spain are continuing to leave the country permanently, with 10,400 Spanish nationals moving abroad in the final three months of last year, along with 9,500 Moroccans and 8,100 Romanians.
Net migration remains positive, however, assures Miret, which is 'tremendous' news, but 'levels of emigration are not exactly zero'.
He attributes this outward mobility to 'certain weaknesses in the national job market'.
Related Topics
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