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ARCHIVED - Population boom: Spain records highest number of foreign inhabitants in a decade
The average age of British expats is the highest of all foreigners in Spain at 54.1 years
After a marked slow-down in population growth across Europe during the coronavirus pandemic, the number of inhabitants in Spain has reached its highest figure of all time, with 47,475,420 people officially calling the country home as of January 1 last year.
Due largely to Covid-related fatalities, the number of residents dropped dramatically in 2020 but began to recover the following year and the curve has continued ever upward, increasing by 0.19% between 2021 and 2022.
This is mostly thanks to an influx of foreign inhabitants, whose population skyrocketed by 102,784 people to a staggering 5,542,932 in a 12-month period. Today, non-nationals make up 11.7% of the total number of residents in Spain, a figure that hasn’t been seen since 2013.
The region with the highest number of foreigners is Andalucía (741,378 non-Spanish inhabitants) and it’s also the most populated community in Spain overall, but a huge number of expats also choose Aragón (164,762) and Asturias (45,630) to relocate to.
Given the relative lack of red tape, it’s unsurprising that foreigners from within the EU add up to 1,617,911 of the 5.5 million non-Spanish people, the most popular countries of origin being Romania (623,097), Italy (273,889) and Germany (115,099).
From outside of the European Union, Moroccan citizens make up the majority of Spanish foreign inhabitants (883,243 registered people), followed at quite a distance by Columbians (314,679) and British nationals (293,171).
Of course, owing to the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian population in Spain increased during 2022 and these citizens are now among the 20 predominant nationalities in Spain.
Given the popularity of Spain for British retirees, it stands to reason that UK citizens tend to be the oldest of all foreigners, with an average age of 54.1 years. This is compared to the EU average of just 39.6 years.
Image: Archive
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