Population characteristics
The resident population in Spain increased by 82,346 people in the first quarter and stood at 48,692,804 inhabitants as of April 1, 2024. It is the maximum value in the historical series. In annual terms, the estimated population growth was 459,615 people.
Spain's population growth was almost entirely due to the increase in people born abroad. This population ¿of 8,915,831 people¿ was greater than that of foreign nationality, due to the processes of acquiring Spanish nationality. For its part, the number of foreigners increased by 85,684 people during the quarter, up to 6,581,028. And the population of Spanish nationality decreased by 3,338 people.
The number of households stood at 19,334,585 as of April 1, 2024, with an increase of 23,809 during the first quarter of 2024.
The main nationalities of immigrants during the first quarter of 2024 were Colombian (with 39,200 arrivals in Spain), Moroccan (26,000) and Venezuelan (22,600). For their part, the most numerous nationalities of the emigrants were Spanish (with 10,000 departures), Moroccan (9,900) and Romanian (8,000).
During the first quarter of 2024, the population grew in 12 autonomous communities and the autonomous city of Melilla, and decreased in the remaining five autonomous communities and the autonomous city of Ceuta. The largest increases occurred in the Community of Madrid (0.44%), autonomous city of Melilla (0.40%) and Comunitat Valenciana (0.36%).
Spain's population in 1991 was 38,872,268 inhabitants (1991 census); in 2001 the estimated population stood at 40,037,995 inhabitants, with an average density of about 79 inhabitants / km². The population has become increasingly more urban and currently over 77 % of them live in cities and large towns.
During the 1970s, average annual population growth was about 1%, but it subsequently declined due to declining birth rates and was 0.16% in 2004. In 2004, the birth rate was 10.11 per 1000 people, and the death rate was 9.55; natural population growth was 0.7%. Life expectancy for men in Spain was 76.03 years in 2004, and for women 82.94. In 2004, 40.28 million people lived in Spain, and in 1996 — 39.6 million.