Demographics of Spain

Spain has an interesting demographic evolution in the last two centuries, reflecting the tumultuous history of Spain during the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1808–1814 the Peninsular War happened in Spain, causing 1 million deaths. Spain maintained a steady population growth after this war, though the economic stagnation of Spain resulted in a mass emigration to the Americas, mostly to the Spanish-speaking countries of the Americas, as approximately 3,5 million Spaniards moved to Latin America from 1850 to 1950.^[12] The Flu pandemic in 1918-19 left more than 200,000 dead in Spain.

The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), which resulted in the establishment of a far-right dictatorship, resulted in the emigration of hundreds of thousands of Spaniards. Some 25,000 moved to Mexico^[13] The deepening of economic depression after 1939 resulted in mass emigration to European and American countries due to economic and political motives, with approximately 1 million people settling in Latin America.^[14] In 1941, the government approxved benefits for large families with at least four children,^[15] and in 1945 approved a law allowing tax deductions for parents.^[16] The Spanish democratisation after 1975, resulted in return of some Civil War exiles, and after 1980 the birthrates declined as contraception and abortion were legalised. By 1988, after centuries of net negative migration, the first events of illegal immigration from Africa occurred,^[17] and in 1991 Spain became a net receiver of migrants after decades of mass emigration.^[18] In 1994 the government lowered threshold of requirements to become a large family: only three children needed.^[15]

The 2000s were characterised from a huge economic boom caused mainly by lower interest rates after adopting the Euro^[19], resulting in the number of migrants skyrocketing from 924,000 in 2000 to 5,6 million in 2010^[20], mostly from Africa, South America and Europe. Thus, Spain saw large-scale migration from its former colonies for the first time. Then, the economic crisis of Spain in 2008-2014 resulted in an emigration of hundreds of thousands of migrants.^[21] During the early 2000s, the mean year-on-year demographic growth set a new record with its 2003 peak variation of 2.1%, doubling the previous record reached back in the 1960s when a mean year-on-year growth of 1% was experienced.^[22] In 2005 alone, the immigrant population of Spain increased by 700,000 people.^[23] The arrival of migrating young adults was the main reason for the slight increase in Spain's fertility rate.^[24] From 2002 through 2008 the Spanish population grew by 8%, of whom 75% were foreign.^[25]

After 2018, the population began to grow again, thanks to the growth of immigration from abroad, despite negative fertility. Despite growing population, Spain is struggling with a declining population in rural areas (Empty Spain).^[26]

In 2020s, due to the Democratic Memory Law, which allowed hundreds of thousands of descendants of Civil War exiles to regain Spanish citizenship^[27], many Latin Americans of Spanish descent obtained Spanish citizenship and some of them have moved to Spain.^[14] The 2020s have been characterised by a large growth of immigration in Spain, especially in provincial capitals and large cities.^[28] Since 2022, more than 1,6 million people have moved to Spain.

Spain has a low fertility rate of only 1,12 as of 2026. The number of births in Spain declined from 420,000 in 2015 to 321,000 in 2025. Though immigration has contributed to a small increase in the birthrates in 2025, the number of births to mothers under 25 years old in Spain is decreasing. Conversely, the share of births to mothers above the age of 40 has increased.^[29]

Note: Crude migration change (per 1,000) is a trend analysis, an extrapolation based on average population change (current year minus previous) minus natural change of the current year (see table vital statistics). Average population is an estimate of the population in the middle of the year and not at the end of the year.

Population growth

Population growth rate

2022 est.

0.13%

Country comparison to the world

143rd

2017 est.

0.78%

Life expectancy

See also: List of Spanish provinces by life expectancy

More information Year, Life expectancy in years ...

1882–1950

Year	Life expectancy in years
1882	29.5
1892	32.1
1900	34.8
1908	41.3
1909	41.0
1910	40.8
1911	39.7
1912	43.4
1913	42.5
1914	42.8
1915	43.0
1916	42.9
1917	42.5
1918	30.3
1919	41.1
1920[14]	39.2
1921	42.0
1922	44.1
1923	44.7
1924	46.2
1925	46.9
1926	47.7
1927	48.4
1928	48.6
1929	49.3
1930[14]
1931	49.2
1932	51.1
1933	51.5
1934	52.3
1935	52.6
1936	51.0
1937	47.3
1938	47.6
1939	47.2
1940[14]	48.4
1941	47.2
1942	52.5
1943	54.8
1944	56.2
1945	57.8
1946	57.5
1947	59.3
1948	61.2
1949	61.0
1950[14]	61.8

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Sources: Our World In Data and the United Nations.

More information Period, Life expectancy in years ...

1950-2015

Period	Life expectancy in years
1950–1955	64.6
1955–1960	67.8
1960–1965	69.9
1965–1970	71.4
1970–1975	72.7
1975–1980	74.4
1980–1985	76.1
1985–1990	76.9
1990–1995	77.6
2000–2005	79.9
2005–2010	81.2
2010–2015	82.5

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Source: UN World Population Prospects^[31]

Life expectancy at birth

Total population

82.21 years

Male

79.22 years

Female

85.39 years (2021 est.)

Country comparison to the world

29nd

Infant mortality rate

3.14 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.)

Country comparison to the world

216th

Crude death rate

9.78 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Country comparison to the world

55th

Fertility

The total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire period. Sources: Our World In Data and Gapminder Foundation.^[32]

More information Year, Fertility rate ...

1850-1899

Year	Fertility rate
1850	5.13
1851	5.07
1852	5.01
1853	4.95
1854	4.89
1855	4.83
1856	4.78
1857	4.72
1858	4.66
1859	4.75
1860[32]	4.86
1861	5.16
1862	5.09
1863	5
1864	5.19
1865	5.11
1866	5.07
1867	5.09
1868	4.72
1869	4.9
1870[32]	4.84
1871	4.83
1872
1873	4.82
1874	4.81
1875	4.8
1876	4.79
1877	4.78
1878
1879	4.74
1880[32]	4.7
1881	4.91
1882	4.79
1883	4.71
1884	4.86
1885	4.8
1886	4.86
1887	4.78
1888	4.82
1889
1890[32]	4.55
1891	4.67
1892	4.71
1893
1894	4.6
1895	4.63
1896	4.75
1897	4.51
1898	4.41
1899[32]	4.53

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Crude birth rate

8.05 births/1,000 population (2021 est.)

Country comparison to the world

212th

Total fertility rate

1.16 children born/woman (2022)^[11] Country comparison to the world: 207th

Mother's mean age at first birth

30.9 years (2017 est.)

Youth unemployment, ages 15–24

24.9% (total; as of January 2025^[46])

The Spanish Constitution of 1978, in its second article, generically recognises contemporary entities—nationalities and regions—^[e] within the context of the Spanish nation.

Spain has been described as a de facto plurinational state.^[47][48] The identity of Spain rather accrues of an overlap of different territorial and ethnolinguistic identities than of a sole Spanish identity. In some cases some of the territorial identities may conflict with the dominant Spanish culture. Distinct traditional identities within Spain include the Basques, Canarians, Catalans, Galicians, Andalusians and Valencians,^{[failed verification][49]} although to some extent all of the 17 autonomous communities may claim a distinct local identity. Definition of ethnicity or nationality in Spain is fraught politically. The term "Spanish people" (pueblo español) is defined in the 1978 constitution as the political sovereign, i.e. the citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. The same constitution in its preamble speaks of "peoples and nationalities of Spain" (pueblos y nacionalidades de España) and their respective cultures, traditions, languages and institutions. The formerly nomadic Gitanos and Mercheros are distinctly marked by endogamy and discrimination but they are dispersed through the country.^{[citation needed]}

The native Canarians are partly the descendants of the North African population of the Canary Islands prior to Spanish colonization in the 15th century although many Spaniards have varying levels of North African admixture as a result of the Islamic period. Also included are many Spanish citizens who are descendants of people from Spain's former colonies, mostly from Venezuela, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Morocco and Cuba. There is also a sizable number of Spaniards of Eastern European, Maghrebian, Sub Saharan-African, Indian subcontinent and Middle Eastern descent.^[50]

The arrival of the gitanos (Spanish for "gypsies"), a Romani people, began in the 16th century; estimates of the Spanish Roma population range from 750,000 to over one million.^{[51][52][53][54][55]} There are also the mercheros (also called quinquis), a formerly nomadic minority group. Their origin is unclear.

Historically, Sephardic Jews and Moriscos are the main minority groups originating in Spain and with a contribution to Spanish culture.^[56] The Spanish government formerly offered Spanish citizenship to Sephardic Jews.^[57]

In terms of emigration vs. immigration, after decades of net emigration after the Spanish Civil War, Spain has experienced massive large-scale immigration for the first time in modern history over the past 30 years. As of 2024, there were 8,915,831 foreign-born people in Spain, making up to 18.31% of the Spanish population^[59] Of these, 6,581,028 (13.51%) didn't have Spanish citizenship.^[60][61] This makes Spain one of the world's preferred destinations to immigrate to, being the 4th country in Europe by immigration numbers and the 10th worldwide. Of these, more than 860,000 were Romanian, and 760,000 were Moroccan while the number of Ecuadorians was around 390,000. Colombian population amounted to around 300,000. There are also a significant number of British (359,076 as of 2011, but more than one million are estimated to live permanently in Spain) and German (195,842) citizens, mainly in Alicante, Málaga provinces, Balearic Islands and Canary Islands. The largest Asian immigrant group, the Chinese, number slightly over 166,000.

Spain migration data, 2008–2022

More information Period, Immigration ...

Period	Immigration	Emigration	Net Migration
2008S1	329,772	134,650	195,121
2008S2	269,302	153,782	115,520
2009S1	205,091	184,140	20,951
2009S2	187,872	195,978	-8,106
2010S1	173,714	197,032	-23,318
2010S2	186,990	206,347	-19,357
2011S1	176,808	200,634	-23,826
2011S2	194,527	208,400	-13,873
2012S1	153,205	212,457	-59,253
2012S2	150,849	234,148	-83,299
2013S1	127,796	269,691	-141,895
2013S2	152,976	262,612	-109,636
2014S1	138,274	199,552	-61,278
2014S2	167,180	200,877	-33,698
2015S1	154,659	173,062	-18,404
2015S2	187,455	170,812	16,643
2016S1	186,918	166,819	20,098
2016S2	227,829	160,505	67,323
2017S1	234,070	197,140	36,930
2017S2	298,062	171,720	126,342
2018S1	286,230	169,124	117,106
2018S2	357,454	140,402	217,052
2019S1	349,941	137,367	212,574
2019S2	400,539	158,881	241,658
2020S1	248,029	130,413	117,616
2020S2	219,889	118,148	101,741
2021S1	201,329	197,376	3,953
2021S2	327,527	183,410	144,117
2022S1	478,990	220,443	258,547

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More information Year, Total immigration ...

Migration data for Spain (2021–2023) ^[62]

Year	Total immigration	Total emigration	Total net migration	Spanish immigration	Spanish emigration	Spanish net migration
2021	887,960	696,866	191,094	135,651	155,533	-19,882
2022	1,258,894	531,889	727,005	138,420	141,124	-2,704
2023	1,250,991	608,695	642,296	152,963	126,901	26,062
2024	1,288,562	662,294	626,268	144,335	137,719	6,616

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More information Country, Population ...

Population by country of birth as of 2023:^[63]

Country	Population
Spain	39,881,155
Morocco	1,026,371
Colombia	715,655
Romania	538,699
Venezuela	518,918
Ecuador	430,837
Argentina	373,064
Peru	322,407
United Kingdom	293,696
France	215,283
Cuba	198,639
Ukraine	197,192
Dominican Republic	193,653
China	192,346
Bolivia	183,734
Honduras	177,616
Germany	170,621
Brazil	167,265
Italy	154,749
Paraguay	127,767
Russia	118,801
Pakistan	114,693
Bulgaria	106,680
Portugal	95,171
Senegal	91,568
Uruguay	86,620
Nicaragua	80,013
Algeria	79,026
Mexico	72,669
Chile	70,307
USA	64,227
India	60,679
Switzerland	59,406
Netherlands	55,312
Philippines	54,807
Belgium	53,460
Poland	52,289
El Salvador	34,392
Nigeria	33,390
Mali	32,676
Gambia	27,574
Moldova	24,134

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Foreign population

As of 2024, Spain had a foreign population of 6,581,028.^[64][65] The largest groups of foreigners were those of Moroccan, Romanian, British, Chinese and Italian citizenship.^[64] Meanwhile, in 2024, Spain had a foreign-born population of 8,915,831, being those born in the Americas the largest group, and Europe being the second most common continent of origin after South America.^[66]

More information Foreign population by region of origin, Number ...

Foreign population by region of origin[65]	Number
Europe	2,205,961
European Union	1,617,911
Other Europe	588,050
Africa	1,217,706
South America	1,173,900
Central America/Caribbean	368,461
North America	76,628
Asia	493,065
Oceania	3,580
Total	5,542,932

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More information Resident Population groups, Year ...

Country of birth in Spain

Resident Population groups	Year
	2002[67]		2004[67]		2006[67]		2008[67][68]		2010[67]		2012[67]		2014[67]		2016[67]		2018[67]		2020[67]		2022[67][68]		2025
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Spaniards	39,297,299	95.76%	38,999,785	91.66%	39,371,997	89.46%	39,790,019	87.12%	40,206,557	86.49%	40,523,263	86.55%	40,553,891	87.18%	40,521,758	87.25%	40,459,614	86.74%	40,335,789	85.22%	40,018,611	84.27%	39,629,735	80.36%
Foreigners	1,737,972	4.24%	3,547,669	8.34%	4,637,972	10.54%	5,878,919	12.88%	6,280,064	13.51%	6,294,953	13.45%	5,958,308	12.82%	5,918,341	12.75%	6,198,833	13.26%	6,996,825	14.78%	7,468,116	15.73%	9,686,214	19.64%
Total	41,035,271	100%	42,547,454	100%	44,009,969	100%	45,668,938	100%	46,486,621	100%	46,818,216	100%	46,512,199	100%	46,440,099	100%	46,658,447	100%	47,332,614	100%	47,486,727	100%	49,315,949	100%

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More information Year, Total ...

Evolution of immigrated population every two years

Year	Total	Percentage
2002	1,737,972	4.24
2004	3,547,669	8.34
2006	4,637,972	10.54
2008	5,878,919	12.88
2010	6,280,064	13.51
2012	6,294,953	13.45
2014	5,958,308	12.82
2016	5,918,341	12.75
2018	6,198,833	13.26
2020	6,996,825	14.78
2022	7,365,311	15.53

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The Reconquista was the long process by which the Catholics reconquered Spain from Islamic rule by 1492. The Spanish Inquisition was established in 1478 to complete the religious orthodoxy of the Iberian Peninsula. In the centuries that followed, Spain saw itself as the bulwark of Catholicism and doctrinal purity; since then, Catholicism has been the main religion in Spain.^[70][71]

Spanish missionaries carried Catholicism to the Americas and the Philippines, establishing various missions in the newly colonized lands. The missions served as a base for both administering colonies as well as spreading Christianity.^[72][73][74]

The Spanish Constitution of 1978 abolished Catholicism as the official state religion, but recognised the role it plays in Spanish society.^[75] From the end of the Francoist dictatorship to the present day, a secularisation process has taken place that has meant a progressive decrease in religious practice, in the attendance at the different religious rites (baptisms, communions and Catholic marriages) and in the percentage of Spaniards who identify as Catholic.^[76] Consequently, a majority of Spaniards today ignore Catholic doctrines on matters such as pre-marital sex, homosexuality and contraception.^[77][78] Despite the drop, Catholic identity nevertheless remains an important part of Spain's culture.^[76]

As of 2018^[update], 68.5% of the population define themselves as Catholic, 26.4% as non-believers or atheists, and 2.6% other religions according to the official Spanish Center for Sociological Research.^[79] Among believers, 59% assert they almost never go to any religious service, by contrast, 16.3% attend one or more religious service almost every week.^[79][80]

There have been three Popes from what is now Spain, all of them from the Crown of Aragon: Calixtus III, Alexander VI and Benedict XIII. Spanish mysticism provided an important intellectual resource against Protestantism with Carmelites like Teresa of Ávila, a reformist nun and John of the Cross, a priest, taking the lead in their reform movement. Later, they became Doctors of the Church. The Society of Jesus was co-founded by Ignatius of Loyola, whose Spiritual Exercises and movement led to the establishment of hundreds of colleges and universities in the world, including 28 in the United States alone. The Society's co-founder, Francis Xavier, was a missionary who reached India and later Japan. In the 1960s, Jesuits Pedro Arrupe and Ignacio Ellacuría supported the movement of Liberation Theology.^{[citation needed]}

A study made by the Union of Islamic Communities of Spain demonstrated that there were about 1,700,000 inhabitants of Muslim background living in Spain as of 2012^[update], accounting for 3–4% of the total population of Spain. The vast majority was composed of immigrants and descendants originating from Morocco and other African countries. More than 514,000 (30%) of them had Spanish nationality.^[81] The recent waves of immigration have also led to an increasing number of Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs and Hindus. After the Reconquista in 1492, Muslims did not live in Spain for centuries. Their ranks have since been bolstered by recent immigration, especially from Morocco and Algeria.^{[citation needed]} Judaism was practically non-existent in Spain from the 1492 expulsion until the 19th century, when Jews were again permitted to enter the country. Currently there are around 62,000 Jews in Spain, or 0.14% of the total population. Most are arrivals in the past century, while some are descendants of earlier Spanish Jews. Approximately 80,000 Jews are thought to have lived in Spain prior to its expulsion.^[82] However the Jewish Encyclopedia states the number over 800,000 to be too large and 235,000 as too small: 165,000 is given as expelled as possibly too small in favour of 200,000, and the numbers of converts after the 1391 pogroms as less. Other sources suggest 200,000 converts mostly after the pogroms of 1391 and upwards of 100,000 expelled. Up until recently, descendants of these Sephardic Jews expelled in 1492 were eligible for Spanish citizenship if they requested it.^[83]

• Spanish 99% (88% mother tongue^[84]) (official nationwide)
• Catalan 16%^[85] (9% mother tongue^[84]) (co-official in Catalonia, Balearic Islands, and Valencia — see Valencian)
• Galician 7% (5% mother tongue^[84]) (co-official in Galicia)
• Basque 1.6% (1% mother tongue^[84]) (co-official in Basque Country and designated areas in Navarre).
• Aranese (a variant of Gascon Occitan) is co-official in Val d'Aran, a small valley in the Pyrenees.

Others with no official status:

• Asturian-Leonese (in the former Kingdom of León and Asturias)
• Aragonese (in the province of Huesca, Aragon)
• Arabic (in the autonomous city of Ceuta)
• Tarifit (in the autonomous city of Melilla)

About 70% of Spain's students in non-university education attend public schools;^[87] 79.1% of students in higher education are enrolled in public universities.^[88] The remainder attend private schools or universities, many of which are operated by the Catholic Church.^[89]

Compulsory education begins with primary school or general basic education for ages 6–16. It is free in public schools and in many private schools, most of which receive government subsidies.^[90] Following graduation, students attend either a secondary school offering a general high school diploma or a school of professional study in all fields – law, sciences, humanities, and medicine – and the technical schools offer programs in engineering and architecture.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Demographics of Spain.

• Health in Spain
• Demographics of Madrid
• List of Spaniards
• Romani people in Spain
• Ranked list of Spanish autonomous communities
• Singular population entity
• Contemporary history of Spain
• Empty Spain