The Catalan population born abroad breaks the two million barrier

BarcelonaThe Catalan population born abroad has surpassed the two million mark for the first time. Specifically, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) published in the latest Continuous Population Survey dated January 1, the number of inhabitants of Catalonia who were born outside the State stands at 2,028,315. The figure represents 24.98% of the total population and represents an increase of almost 30,000 people in the last quarter of 2024. In total, last year the number of Catalans born abroad increased by 121,633 people.

In fact, the data released on Thursday show the constant growth of citizens born abroad in recent years. If we look at the same statistics from just twenty years ago, on January 1, 2005, Catalans born outside the State represented 12.2% of the total population. If we go a little further back, the change becomes even more evident: in 2002, Catalans born outside the State were 6.6% of the total.

The demographer and deputy director of the Center for Demographic Studies Andreu Domingo explains to ARA that this growth of the native-born population is a response to the two latest "migratory booms": the one that begins from the beginning of the second end to the economic crisis of 2008 and the recovery From 2016 onwards to the current situation - with a "petit parèntesi per la covid" -.

As regards the age of this part of the Catalan population, we find generational ranges in which their weight is clearly more significant: specifically, between 20 and 49 years old. In fact, in the 30 to 34 age range, the majority of those born abroad represent 47.6% of the total, while, among those aged 35 to 39, the figure is 45.4%. However, Domingo explains that it must be taken into account that this percentage increase is a combination of two factors: the increase in Catalans born abroad and the decline in birth rates that Catalonia has been experiencing for years.

According to the INE report, the increase in the Catalan population is clearly due to the arrival of citizens from abroad. Thus, last year there were 107,319 more Catalans than in 2023, but in that same period there were more deaths (67,662) than births (54,217). Therefore, the growth of the population of Catalonia was driven by the 121,633 newly arrived Catalans registered last year.

More grandparents than babies

Another reality reflected in the INE report is the drop in birth rates in Catalonia. The clearest evidence in this regard is that, for the first time, in Catalonia there are more citizens aged 80 (55,138) than babies born in 2024 (53,768). In fact, last year the birth rate in Catalonia was the lowest in the last 30 years. On the other hand, residents over 75 years of age are already almost a tenth of the Catalan population.

"The current low fertility rate has a lot to do with the fact that women who are now of childbearing age correspond to empty generations"explains Andreu Domingo. In other words, since people who are of childbearing age today are already children of a generation with low birth rates, the effects are aggravated. In addition, the contribution of the children of migrants, according to the demographer, "does not compensate for this." ~BK_S9s

If we broaden the prism across the State, the INE data show that for the first time the Spanish population has exceeded 49 million inhabitants, with 49,077,984 citizens in total. At the Spanish level, the year-on-year growth has been 458,289 people, placing the number of foreign-born citizens throughout Spain at over 6,852,348. The general increase in population outside Catalonia has also been driven by the arrival of foreigners, since the birth rate has also been declining in the State.

Regarding the origin of those born abroad who have registered as new residents in Spain in the last four months of 2024 - specific data for Catalonia have not been published - Colombians are at the top of the ranking, with 43,400 citizens throughout the State. They are followed by Venezuelans (30,500) and Moroccans (27,700). "It is interesting to see how the countries of origin have changed between the first migration boom - at the beginning of the century - and the second: although Colombia and Argentina have always been two important countries of origin, in this last wave Venezuela and Honduras have been added," explains the deputy director of the Centre for Demographic Studies.

He also highlights the appearance of Ecuador, which, although it was a country with a lot of weight in arrivals at the beginning of 2000, did not appear on the current lists until about three years ago. Domingo believes that the main causes that explain the migratory phenomenon of these Latin American countries are "citizen insecurity" and the "hardening of the border policies of the United States."