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SPAIN has been able to burnish its evergreen credentials as it’s average life span sailed by a historical milestone.
While the increased longevity is a good thing, it poses new challenges to Spain’s planners.
Life expectancy is now above 84 years for the first time – but the good news is tempered by more alarming developments at the other end of the scale.
According to the National Statistics Institute, life expectancy for a child born in 2024 will be 84.01.
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Men’s life expectancy increased to 81.38, an increase of 0.27 over the previous year. The life expectancy for women increased to 86.53 years, a 0.19 increase. The number of deaths – 436,118 – was almost identical to 2023.
It was an alarming year for Spain’s fertility rate.
Spain recorded just 318 005 babies last year. This is a drop of 0.8% from 2023, and the lowest number since records began.
The fertility rate slipped to quasi-apocalyptic 1.1 children per woman – just half of the number needed to maintain the population.
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Women are choosing to delay childbirth until later in life, with births to mothers aged 40 or older continuing to rise – they now represent 10.4% of all deliveries, a 7.3% increase over the past decade.
With deaths holding steady at 436,118, it means that Spain’s population would have dropped – by 116,000 – for the eighth consecutive year of population decline – if it were not for one factor.
Spain has more than compensated for its declining population through migration.
In 2023, which is the latest year for which complete figures are available, the country saw a net increase of 642,000 individuals.
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This figure is part a post pandemic trend where the immigrant populations has grown by around 600,000 per year. It’s the fastest growth rate in Europe, barring Germany, in absolute numbers.
It means that, in total, Spain’s population grew by about 458,000 people last year, once you add everything together – births, deaths and migration.
By October 2025, Spain will have surpassed the 50-million barrier, with a population of 49,442,844.
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