As of January 2024, the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE) estimates that there were approximately 8.8 million foreign residents in Spain. This number equates to more than 17% of Spain's total population. Concurrently, Spain's population reached a record 48.5 million, the most since the records began. There was an expected 507,548 population rise per year. The majority of this increase, according to INE, can be attributed to the rise in the number of people who were born overseas. Moreover, according to Eurostat, Spain ranked among the top ten European countries with the highest number of foreign population. Other EU countries with the largest foreign population were Luxembourg, Malta, Cyprus, Ireland, Austria, Sweden, Germany, Belgium and Estonia. The main nationalities of immigrants during the last quarter of 2023 were Colombian (with 42,600 arrivals in Spain), Venezuelan (27,300) and Moroccan (25,800). The latter emerged as the most representative foreign nationality last year, according to a recent publication by Statista. Among the most representative foreign citizens in Spain were also Romanians, Columbians, Italians, and British. During the same period, almost all autonomous communities and cities in Spain experienced a surge in population. The highest increases were recorded in Melilla, Madrid, and Valencia. In addition to foreign residents, the number of foreigners obtaining Spanish Citizenship has also increased over the past few years. According to INE, authorities granted Spanish citizenship to 181,581 foreign residents in 2022, which is 21.6 per cent more than the previous year. Morocco, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic were the most common nationalities of origin among residents who acquired Spanish citizenship in 2022.

More Spanish People Are Moving Abroad

While Spain is becoming the new home for more and more foreigners each year, on the other hand, the number of Spaniards living abroad is growing. More specifically, the number of Spanish residents residing abroad reached nearly 2.9 million as of January 1 of this year. According to INE, during the last quarter of 2023, numerous nationalities of emigrants were Spanish (with 10,400 departures), Moroccans (9,500) and Romanians (8,100).