Costa News Spain reports that 97% of Malaga’s new residents are foreigners.

According to the most recent figures released by the National Institute of Statistics, Malaga is now home to one million seven hundred ninety-thousand residents.

This is an increase of 14,402 since the start of 2024. It shows a steeper increase in population than ever before. The increase has continued to rise since the pandemic. Malaga has seen a growth of 160,000 people in just 10 years. Of these, 22,4 percent are foreign-born.

Intriguingly, new foreign residents accounted for 97 per cent of those who were added to the civil registry in the past year. Only 4,874 Spaniards born in the province moved to the region in the previous 12 months.

In less than four years, since COVID was lifted, Malaga has seen a significant increase in foreign residents.

The total number of Europeans from non EU countries who now reside in Malaga is 90 560.

The population of the country has nearly reached 50 millions, largely due to immigrants from abroad.

Spain needs foreign residents to continue its economic growth. Population has been declining for years due to a combination of highly-educated nationals looking for better-paid jobs abroad and a decreasing birth rate. While some still retire to Spain, their pensions are spent in the Spanish economic system. Younger immigrants tend to be more likely to work and contribute to the economy.