Spain's population breaks 49-million milestone for first time ever – CSN News

Friday, February 14, 2025 at 13:19

In 2024, Spain will surpass the 49-million mark in population during the Christmas holidays. The INE statistics institute reported that on January 1, there were 49.077.984 Spanish residents. The country’s population has increased by 115.612 since the last quarter.

In just two years, the Spanish census has grown by nearly one million people. It has recorded 992,623 additional people since January 20,23. This represents a growth rate not seen in the past century when the country experienced an economic boom.

This significant and rapid population increase is solely due to a very powerful influx from foreigners, which has been occurring since summer 2022. The trend in population growth coincides with the recovery of Spain’s economy and job market, which has seen the highest growth rates in Europe. These figures represent a new era of optimism after the economic and social crises caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Immigration is currently the most effective way to fight the demographic freezing that threatens Spain. It has become commonplace for the number of deaths to exceed the number of births in Spain over the past five years. There has been a steady population decline (20,505 fewer Spanish natives in the nation since October 20, 2024). This is due to the ageing process of the people in Spain as well as the declining birth rates.

The large immigration wave began in the spring of 2022 and continued through the summer, coinciding the vaccination of the Covid-19 waves. Arrivals peaked between October 2022 to January 2023. Spain’s population has increased by over 1% every quarter for the past seven years, and the foreign segment has grown at a rate of close to 2% per year.

It is true that the number of new arrivals has not decreased, but it has slowed over the last year. In the last 12 months, it has dropped from 579.929 new residents to be registered in Spain (from October 20,22 to October 20,23) to 458,289. The rate of growth in the Spanish population has gone from 1.3% down to 0.9% (today, 0.94%).

Nearly 20% of the population has an origin of another country

The volume of immigrants to Spain remains high despite the slowdown. In the last quarter, 136.117 foreigners arrived. Over the last 20 years, an avalanche has arrived that has enabled residents from other countries to easily surpass nine million people (9.37999972). They account for 19,1% of all Spanish citizens registered in the census. This number will rise to one out of five Spaniards by this time next year.

The major countries of migration are virtually the same from quarter to quarter. Colombia tops the list with 43.400 residents arriving between October 2024 and January 2024. Venezuela is second with 30,500. Morocco comes in third with 27,700. And Peru has 18,800. Italy is the top European contributor with 8,900 arrivals. Honduras comes in second, followed by Argentina, Ecuador, and Ukraine.

The Spanish population is increasing across the board. But the increase in different regions of the nation is not uniform. In the fourth quarter, all the regions and two regional towns saw a rise in population, though the intensity varied. The same territories are responsible for the highest growth in each statistical renewal. Madrid, Valencia and Catalonia are the top four recipients, with La Rioja & Murcia joining them this time. Valencia increased the number of national arrivals by twofold between October and January 2024.