In the past year, the population of Spain has grown by 507,548 individuals, marking a 1.06% increase and reaching a historic high of 48,592,909 inhabitants. This surge is primarily attributed to the rising number of foreign-born residents, with foreigners now accounting for a record-breaking 13.4% of the population.
Specifically in the Canary Islands, the population saw a 1.2% growth in 2023, totaling 2,213,016 inhabitants, which is 27,409 more than the previous year’s count of 2,185,607. The notable increase is largely driven by a 7.5% rise in the number of foreign-born individuals, climbing from 292,401 in 2022 to 314,523 in 2023.
During the last three months of 2023, Spain’s resident population expanded by 85,870 individuals, continuing the upward trend observed over the last six quarters, with year-on-year growth rates exceeding 1%. These insights stem from data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) in its Continuous Population Statistics report published on Thursday.
The growth in Spain’s population is predominantly fueled by an increase in foreign-born individuals, who now number 8,775,213, surpassing the count of foreign nationals due to naturalization processes. The number of foreign nationals rose by 72,504 individuals during the quarter, reaching 6,491,502 and constituting 13.4% of the population, compared to 4.2% in 2002. Meanwhile, the population of Spanish nationals grew by 13,366 individuals.
Regarding foreign migration, significant arrivals during the fourth quarter of 2023 were from Colombia (42,600), Venezuela (27,300), and Morocco (25,800). Other notable nationalities include Peru (17,200), Italy (9,600), Argentina (7,900), Honduras (7,000), Ecuador (6,200), and Romania (5,700). Leading the emigrant departures were Spanish nationals (10,400), followed by Moroccans (9,500) and Romanians (8,100).
EVOLUTION OF RESIDENTS INCREASE BY REGIONS IN SPAIN
In terms of households, there was an increase of 45,560 during the fourth quarter, bringing the total to 19,346,386 households, representing an annual rise of 1.28%.
Across autonomous communities and cities, population growth was observed in all regions except Andalusia and Extremadura. Notable increases were seen in Melilla (0.64%), Comunidad de Madrid (0.44%), Comunitat Valenciana (0.41%), Región de Murcia (0.23%), Canarias (0.17%), Cataluña (0.17%), Ceuta (0.14%), País Vasco (0.14%), Baleares (0.13%), Cantabria (0.11%), Castilla-La Mancha (0.10%), Asturias (0.09%), Galicia (0.08%), Castilla y León (0.07%), La Rioja (0.03%), and Aragón (0.01%).
