Demographics of Spain

History

• 1808–1814. Peninsular War : 1 million deaths.
• Late 19th-early 20th century. Emigration: Spain undergoes economic stagnation which caused mass emigration to the Americas.
• 1918. Flu pandemic, over 200,000 dead in Spain.
• 1936. Start of the Spanish Civil War.
• 1939. End of the Civil War. Establishment of a dictatorship, start of rationing policies. Deepening of economic depression, mass emigration to European and American countries due to economic and political motives.
• 1941. Approval of benefits for large families with at least four children.
• 1945. Establishment of tax deductions for parents.
• 1952. End of rationing policies.
• 1975. End of the dictatorship, mass return of emigrated people.
• 1978. Legalization of contraception. Decline of birth rates.
• 1985. Legalization of abortion.
• 1988. After centuries of net negative migration, the first events of illegal immigration from Africa occur.
• 1991. Spain becomes a net receiver of migrants after decades of mass emigration.
• 1994. Lowering of threshold of requirements to become a large family: only three children needed.
• 2000. Huge economic boom caused mainly by lower interest rates after adopting the Euro, and a huge increase in foreign investment and immigration.
• 2000–2009. Mass migration from Latin America, Romania and other countries, coupled with a moderate increase of the fertility rate, results in a large population in the first ten years of the 21st century.
• 2007. Approval of €2,500 benefit for births.
• 2010. Legalization of elective abortion.
• 2011. Withdrawal of the €2,500 benefit for births.
• 2015. First negative natural change since the Civil War due to the aging of Spanish population.
• 2018. Population begins to grow again, thanks to the growth of immigration from abroad.

Population

Population growth

Life expectancy

Fertility

Age structure

Structure of the population

Vital statistics

Statistics since 1858

• 1872-1876 – Third Carlist War
• 1873 – Cantonal Rebellion
• 1914-1918 – First World War
• 1936-1939 – Spanish Civil War

Nationality of mothers

Birthplace of mothers

Total fertility rates by region

Autonomous communities

TFR

Region of Murcia Total fertility rate by provinces and islands Provinces and Islands TFR El Hierro Employment and income ;Youth unemployment, ages 15–24: 24.9% Metropolitan areas Islands Islander population : Tenerife 886,033 Mallorca 846,210 Gran Canaria 829,597 Lanzarote 132,366 Ibiza 113,908 Fuerteventura 94,386 Menorca 86,697 La Palma 85,933 La Gomera 22,259 El Hierro 10,558 Formentera 7,957 Arousa 4,889 La Graciosa 658 Tabarca 105 Ons 61 Ethnic groups The Spanish Constitution of 1978, in its second article, generically recognises contemporary entities—nationalities and regions— within the context of the Spanish nation. Spain has been described as a de facto plurinational state. 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, 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" 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" 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. 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. The arrival of the gitanos, a Romani people, began in the 16th century; estimates of the Spanish Roma population range from 750,000 to over one million. There are also the mercheros, 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. The Spanish government formerly offered Spanish citizenship to Sephardic Jews. Immigration 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 Of these, 6,581,028 didn't have Spanish citizenship. 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 and German 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 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 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 Country Population Spain Foreign population As of 2024, Spain had a foreign population of 6,581,028. The largest groups of foreigners were those of Moroccan, Romanian, British, Chinese and Italian citizenship. 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. Foreign population by region of origin 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 Religions 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. 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. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 abolished Catholicism as the official state religion, but recognised the role it plays in Spanish society. 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 and in the percentage of Spaniards who identify as Catholic. Consequently, a majority of Spaniards today ignore Catholic doctrines on matters such as pre-marital sex, homosexuality and contraception. Despite the drop, Catholic identity nevertheless remains an important part of Spain's culture. , 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. 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. 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. 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, 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 of them had Spanish nationality. 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. 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. 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. Languages Spanish 99% Catalan 16% Galician 7% Basque 1.6% . Aranese is co-official in Val d'Aran, a small valley in the Pyrenees. Others with no official status: Asturian-Leonese Aragonese Arabic Tarifit Educational system About 70% of Spain's students in non-university education attend public schools; 79.1% of students in higher education are enrolled in public universities. The remainder attend private schools or universities, many of which are operated by the Catholic Church. 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. 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.