Immigration to Spain

Immigration to Spain increased significantly at the beginning of the 21st century. In 1998, immigrants accounted for 1.6% of the population, and by 2009, that number had risen to over 12%. Until 2014, the number of immigrants decreased due to the economic crisis, but since 2015, immigration to Spain has been on the rise, especially after 2021, reaching 19.11% of the population today.

As of 2025, there were 9,379,972 foreign-born people in Spain, making up to 19.11% of the population, including 5,308,314 (11.14%) born in a non-European country. Of these 6,852,348 (13.96%) did not have Spanish citizenship. This makes Spain the 4th country in Europe by immigration numbers and the 10th worldwide. Spain attracts significant immigration from Latin America and Eastern Europe. The fastest-growing immigrant groups in 2017 were Venezuelans, Colombians, Italians, Ukrainians, and Argentines.

 

During the early 21st century, the average year-on-year demographic growth set a new record with its 2003 peak variation of 2.1%, doubling the previous record reached in the 1960s when a mean year-on-year growth of 1% was experienced.[6] In 2005 alone, the immigrant population of Spain increased by 700,000 people.

 

Spain accepted 478,990 new immigrant residents in just the first six months of 2022 alone. During these months, 220,443 people also emigrated from Spain, leaving a record-breaking net migration figure of 258,547.[8] More women than men chose to move to Spain during 2022; this is due to higher rates of emigration from Latin America.