Spain surpasses 10 million foreign-born residents

BarcelonaSpain's population exceeds 49.5 million thanks to the arrival of foreigners, according to data from the INE, the Spanish statistics institute. The data also reveals that today, for the first time, the number of residents born in other countries surpasses 10 million, meaning one in five. Catalonia of the eight millionForeigners represent 18%, according to Idescat. In fact, it is migrants who are saving Spain from a demographic winter, since natural population growth results in a negative balance, with more deaths than births. In the last year, the population has grown by 442,000 people, a sustained increase that brings it closer to the 50 million mark. At this point, the arrival of more migrants means that, for the first time, those born outside Spain exceed 10 million (10,004,581 on January 1st), and that there are 7.2 million people born abroad but who have become Spanish citizens, a figure that also reaches a record high.

The main nationalities of immigrants arriving during the fourth quarter of 2025 were Colombian (with 36,600 arrivals in Spain), Venezuelan (27,000), and Moroccan (22,000). At the other end of the spectrum, Moroccans (13,000), Colombians (12,500), and Spaniards (7,900) were the citizens who registered the most departures from Spain.

Population growth occurred throughout Spain, except in the Balearic Islands, which lost 0.07% of its population. The Valencian Community registered the largest increase during the last quarter of the year, at 0.34%, followed by Castilla-La Mancha (0.27%), Madrid (0.24%), and Catalonia (0.23%).