ARCHIVED - Murcia reports third highest population growth in Spain as immigrants boost the figures

300,000 UK nationals in Spain make the UK the third largest non-Spanish nationality

The Spanish government’s central statistics unit has this week published its review of changes in the national population figures for the first half of 2020, and despite the increase in deaths due to the pandemic a rise of 18,953 is reported between January and June last year.

It may be partly as a consequence of travel restrictions in the spring, though, that the year-on-year increase in the first half of 2020 was the lowest in four years, with migration playing an important part in the overall trend: without immigrants outnumbering emigrants, the total would have fallen.

The total population of Spain at the end of June was 47,351,567, the highest figure yet, in spite of the number of deaths exceeding births by over 90,000 (261,616 as opposed to 167,559). The total rose as a result of far more migrants coming to this country (245,301) than Spaniards and foreign nationals emigrating abroad (131,445), and the resulting increases in population were most significant in the Balearics (0.37 per cent), the Canaries (0.33 per cent) and the Region of Murcia (0.28 per cent).

On the other hand, the most notable population decreases were seen in Castilla y León (–0,42 per cent), Asturias (–0,34 per cent) and Extremadura (–0,25 per cent).

As a result of the migratory patterns the number of non-Spaniards living in Spain rose by almost 100,000 to 5,326,089, representing 11.25 per cent of the population, with the largest increases concerning those from Colombia (almost 28,000 more), Venezuela and Morocco. However, there were falls in the numbers of Ecuadorians, Rumanians and Bulgarians living in Spain.

UK nationals represent the third largest population group in Spain among non-Spaniards, and in the first half of 2020 the number rose by just 182 to 300,822, well short of the figures for Morocco (760,725) and Rumania (665,905).