The autonomous Spanish city of Melilla, located in the Northern coast of Africa, had the highest birth rate of Spanish cities in 2023: 8.99 births per 1,000 inhabitants. Asturias, on the other hand, had the lowest birth rate, with 4.51 births per 1,000 inhabitants. As of January 2024, Andalusia was the most populated autonomous community in Spain, with a total amount of approximately 8.6 million inhabitants. Spain’s population increases Spain had one of the lowest fertility rate in the European Union in 2023, with approximately 1.29 children being born alive to a woman during her lifetime. In comparison, the fertility rate in France was set at 1.79 that year, whereas Ireland reached 1.76. In 2024, the total population of Spain was around 48.4 million people and was forecast to increase by 2028. Opposite trends There are two reasons for the slow upward trend in Spain’s population. On the one hand, more people die in Spain than are being born in the latest years. On the other hand, while Spain’s population moved away from the country in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the country became a net recipient of foreign immigration again after 2015.

According to the most recent data, more people died in Spain than were born in 2024, with figures reaching over 439,000 deaths versus 322,034 newborns. From 2006 to 2024, 2008 ranked as the year in which the largest number of children were born, with figures reaching over half a million newborns. The depopulation of a country The population of Spain declined for many years, a negative trend reverted from 2016 onwards, and was projected to grow by nearly two million by 2029 compared to 2024. Despite this expected increase, Spain has one of the lowest fertility rate in the European Union, with barely 1.29 children per woman according to the latest reports. During the last years, the country featured a continuous population density of approximately 94 inhabitants per square kilometer – a figure far from the European average, which stood nearly at nearly 112 inhabitants per square kilometer in 2021. Migration inflow: an essential role in the Spanish population growth One of the key points to balance out the population trend in Spain is immigration – Spain’s immigration figures finally started to pick up in 2015 after a downward trend that presumably initiated after the 2008 financial crisis, which left Spain with one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe.

The fertility rate of a country is the average number of children that women from that country will have throughout their reproductive years. In the second half of the nineteenth century in Spain, the fertility rate fluctuated, but overall it had decreased from 5.1 children per woman in 1850 to 4.7 in 1905. From 1905 until 1935 the fertility decline followed a steady trajectory, falling from 4.7 to 3.5 births per woman during this time. Between 1935 and 1940, the Spanish Civil War caused the fertility rate to drop by 0.7 children per woman. The rate dropped again in the 1940s and 50s, before Spain experienced a baby boom, much like the rest of Western Europe, in the mid 1900s. Compared with the rest of Europe, Spain's baby boom was relatively small, although the population did not begin to decrease again until the late 1970s. Spain had one of the lowest fertility rates in the world at the end of the 1900s, and at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the fertility rate was at it's lowest point ever, reaching just 1.2 children per woman in 2000. This number has increased slightly in the past two decades, and is expected to be just over 1.3 in 2020.

In 2023, Murcia ranked as the Spanish region with the highest fertility rate in Spain, with an average of roughly 1.36 children per woman. That year, Melilla ranked first as the region with the highest birth rate, with an average of 8.99 newborns every 1,000 inhabitants.

Spain ES: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data was reported at 8.700 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 9.000 Ratio for 2015. Spain ES: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 11.000 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 22.000 Ratio in 1964 and a record low of 8.700 Ratio in 2016. Spain ES: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Spain – Table ES.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Crude birth rate indicates the number of live births occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

In Spain, the crude birth rate in 1850 was 36.3 live births per thousand people, meaning that 3.6 percent of the population had been born in that year. In the late nineteenth century, the crude birth rate of Spain fluctuated between 34 and 39 births per one thousand people. From 1905 until 1940, the numbers dropped gradually, from 35 to just under 22 births per thousand people, and it then remained around this number (between 20 and 22) until the late 1970s. In the latter stages of the twentieth century, the rate dropped again, to fewer than ten births per thousand. The crude birth rate rose slightly in the early 2000s, however the Great Recession led to many people migrating from Spain, and the rate decreased along with the population, and is expected to reach a record low of 8.5 in 2020.

Spain ES: Fertility Rate: Total: Births per Woman data was reported at 1.330 Ratio in 2016. This stayed constant from the previous number of 1.330 Ratio for 2015. Spain ES: Fertility Rate: Total: Births per Woman data is updated yearly, averaging 1.450 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.010 Ratio in 1964 and a record low of 1.130 Ratio in 1998. Spain ES: Fertility Rate: Total: Births per Woman data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Spain – Table ES.World Bank: Health Statistics. Total fertility rate represents the number of children that would be born to a woman if she were to live to the end of her childbearing years and bear children in accordance with age-specific fertility rates of the specified year.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average; Relevance to gender indicator: it can indicate the status of women within households and a woman’s decision about the number and spacing of children.

Spain Vital Statistics: Gross Birth Rate: per 1000 Inhabitants data was reported at 8.375 NA in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 8.799 NA for 2016. Spain Vital Statistics: Gross Birth Rate: per 1000 Inhabitants data is updated yearly, averaging 10.440 NA from Dec 1975 (Median) to 2017, with 43 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 18.731 NA in 1976 and a record low of 8.375 NA in 2017. Spain Vital Statistics: Gross Birth Rate: per 1000 Inhabitants data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Statistics Institute. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Spain – Table ES.G004: Vital Statistics.

Basic Demographic Indicators: Fertility rates by nationality (Spanish/foreign) and the mother¿s age group. Annual. Autonomous Communities and Cities.

This bar chart displays birth rate (per 1,000 people) by date and is filtered where the country is Spain. The data is about countries per year.

Population Projections: Gross Birth Rate per year. Annual. Autonomous Communities and Cities.

This scatter chart displays health expenditure (% of GDP) against birth rate (per 1,000 people) and is filtered where the country is Spain. The data is about countries per year.

The total fertility rate in Spain declined to 1.16 children per woman in 2022. Therefore, 2022 marks the lowest fertility rate during the observed period. The total fertility rate is the average number of children that a woman of childbearing age (generally considered 15 to 44 years) can hypothetically expect to have throughout her reproductive years. As fertility rates are estimates (similar to life expectancy), they refer to a hypothetical woman or cohort, and estimates assume that current age-specific fertility trends would remain constant throughout this person's reproductive years.Find more statistics on other topics about Spain with key insights such as fertility rate of women aged between 15 and 19 years old, infant mortality rate, and total life expectancy at birth.

This line chart displays birth rate (per 1,000 people) by date using the aggregation average, weighted by population and is filtered where the country is Spain. The data is about countries per year.

Spain ES: Adolescent Fertility Rate: Births per 1000 Women Aged 15-19 data was reported at 8.678 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 8.758 Ratio for 2015. Spain ES: Adolescent Fertility Rate: Births per 1000 Women Aged 15-19 data is updated yearly, averaging 11.574 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 25.628 Ratio in 1977 and a record low of 8.056 Ratio in 1997. Spain ES: Adolescent Fertility Rate: Births per 1000 Women Aged 15-19 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Spain – Table ES.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Adolescent fertility rate is the number of births per 1,000 women ages 15-19.; ; United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects.; Weighted average;

Birth Rate by Autonomous Community, by nationality (spanish/foreigner) of the mother. Autonomous Communities and Cities.

Chart and table of the Spain fertility rate from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

Spain ES: Mortality Rate: Infant: Female: per 1000 Live Births data was reported at 2.500 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 2.600 Ratio for 2015. Spain ES: Mortality Rate: Infant: Female: per 1000 Live Births data is updated yearly, averaging 2.900 Ratio from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2016, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6.600 Ratio in 1990 and a record low of 2.500 Ratio in 2016. Spain ES: Mortality Rate: Infant: Female: per 1000 Live Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Spain – Table ES.World Bank: Health Statistics. Infant mortality rate, female is the number of female infants dying before reaching one year of age, per 1,000 female live births in a given year.; ; Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Weighted Average; Given that data on the incidence and prevalence of diseases are frequently unavailable, mortality rates are often used to identify vulnerable populations. Moreover, they are among the indicators most frequently used to compare socioeconomic development across countries. Under-five mortality rates are higher for boys than for girls in countries in which parental gender preferences are insignificant. Under-five mortality captures the effect of gender discrimination better than infant mortality does, as malnutrition and medical interventions have more significant impacts to this age group. Where female under-five mortality is higher, girls are likely to have less access to resources than boys.

Chart and table of the NY.GDY.TOTL.KN birth rate from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

12,3 (Per 1,000 inhabitants) in 2010.