Migration trends in Spain
Europe
8.3M people from around the world have made Spain their home. That's 17.0% of the country population, arriving from 47 different countries
48.8M
Population
8.3M
Immigrants
1.6M
Emigrants
+6.7M
Inflow
Every 6th person in Spain was born abroad
The #6 largest immigrant destination worldwide
Top corridors
The largest migration routes in Spain
Where people come from
Where people move to
Key moments
How migration has changed since 1990
1990
751.9K immigrants · 1.4M emigrants
1995
- Morocco overtook France as the largest source of new arrivals
- A surge of arrivals — the foreign-born population jumped 43%
- The foreign-born population passed 1M residents
- The gap between arrivals and departures was cut in half
2000
- Entered the world's 20 biggest immigrant destinations
- The country became a destination — more people arriving than leaving
- Migration accounted for 76% of the country's population growth
2005
- A surge of arrivals — the foreign-born population jumped 142%
- Surge of immigrants from Ecuador — 320.5K new arrivals
- Surge of immigrants from Colombia — 150.2K new arrivals
- Surge of immigrants from Argentina — 150.2K new arrivals
2010
- Joined the world's 10 biggest immigrant destinations
- Roughly 1 in 10 residents was now foreign-born
- Surge of immigrants from Romania — 375.5K new arrivals
- The foreign-born population passed 5M residents
2020
- Surge of immigrants from Venezuela — 231.4K new arrivals
Today
- Rose into the 3 biggest immigrant destinations in Europe
- Roughly 1 in 7 residents was now foreign-born
- Without migration, the population would have declined
- Since 1990: 7.6M more foreign-born residents and 248.9K more citizens living abroad