Over the past year, the Canary Islands saw a population increase of 20,501 residents, bringing the total to 2,240,626 by the end of the first quarter, according to the Continuous Population Survey. This represents a 0.9% demographic growth, with the population now comprising 1,106,199 men and 1,134,427 women.
Nationally, Spain’s resident population grew by 82,346 people during the first quarter, reaching a new high of 48,692,804. The growth was largely driven by an increase in foreign-born residents, with the foreign-born population totaling 8,915,831 due to many obtaining Spanish nationality.
The number of foreign nationals in Spain rose by 85,684 during the quarter to 6,581,028, a record number, while the population holding Spanish nationality decreased by 3,338.
The top nationalities of new immigrants to Spain in the first quarter of 2024 were Colombians (39,200), Moroccans (26,000), and Venezuelans (22,600). Conversely, the highest numbers of emigrants were Spaniards (10,000), Moroccans (9,900), and Romanians (8,000).
Population changes across Spain’s territories saw increases in 12 regions and Melilla, while five regions and Ceuta experienced declines. The most significant gains were in the Community of Madrid (0.44%), the autonomous city of Melilla (0.40%), the Valencian Community (0.36%), Catalonia (0.29%), Murcia (0.18%), and the Balearic Islands (0.17%).
Other regions like Navarre (0.16%), Castile La Mancha, the Canary Islands, the Basque Country, and La Rioja each grew by 0.10%, with Andalusia (0.02%) and Galicia (0.01%) seeing marginal increases. Population decreases were observed in Ceuta (-0.02%), Galicia (-0.01%), Cantabria (-0.03%), Asturias (-0.05%), Castilla y León (-0.06%), Extremadura (-0.12%), and Aragón (-0.19%).
Additionally, the number of households in Spain increased by 23,809 from the first quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024, reaching a new peak of 19,334,585. However, the rate of household creation has slowed recently, with a growth rate of 0.87% in the first three months of this year.