In 2025, Madrid was the city with the most inhabitants in Spain. In that year, nearly 3.48 million people lived in the city. Barcelona was the second-largest city with 1.71 million residents.

Andalusia, with a total number of 8.7 million inhabitants, ranked first on the list of most populous autonomous communities in Spain as of January 1st, 2026. The least populated regions of Spain were the two autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, both with a population of under 90,000 inhabitants that year. The population of Spain has been increasing for many years after experiencing a downward trend between 2012 and 2015, and is projected to grow by nearly half a million by 2027. The population of Spain is dying more than being born Spain has one of the lowest fertility rates in the European Union, with barely 1.29 children per woman. According to the most recent data, more people died in Spain than were born in 2023, with figures reaching over 434,000 deaths versus 320,000 newborns. Immigration countered this trend One of the key points to balance out this population downtrend 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. Nevertheless, the number of Spaniards who still migrate is a much larger number than before the crisis. According to the latest data, nationals aged between 25 and 34 years represented the largest bulk of emigrants.

Madrid was the largest city in Spain in 2025, with around *** million inhabitants. Barcelona followed second, with nearly *** million people residing there. The most populated city in the Spanish islands that year was Palma de Mallorca.

Official population figures of the Spanish Municipalities: Revision of the Municipal Register: Population by Autonomous Community and Autonomous City and size of municipalities. Annual. Autonomous Communities and Cities.

Population Census: Population by year of arrival in Spain, year of arrival in the municipality, sex, age (major groups) and nationality (Spanish/foreign) (Provincial capitals and main cities). Annual. Municipalities.

Population in the largest city (% of urban population) in Spain was reported at 16.99 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Spain - Population in the largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on April of 2026.

Historical dataset of population level and growth rate for the Barcelona, Spain metro area from 1950 to 2026.

While Spain’s population has increased slightly since the year 2000, the share of the rural and urban populations has remained relatively constant, with Spain being a highly urban country. This consistently high urbanization is a consequence of both economic and social factors. The Spanish wealth is generated in the cities to a large extent Two thirds of Spain’s economic output, as divided across economic sectors, comes from the service sector, with only ***** percent originating from agriculture. Naturally, service-based economies are easiest when people live closely, while agricultural practices need more land, and thus a rural population. Of course, this also brings economic costs, such as the high living and housing costs in Madrid. What draws people into cities? Social factors also drive people to cities. For some, it is being closer to family or culture, such as art museums. For others, it is finding a large city with green spaces, like Madrid. For others, it is the opportunity to watch a game in a world-class soccer stadium, perhaps FC Barcelona. These and other factors continue to keep Spaniards in their cities.

Urban population (% of total population) in Spain was reported at 81.8 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Spain - Urban population (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on April of 2026.

Table of INEBase Population by previous residence, sex, age (big groups) and country of birth (Spain/foreign) (Provincial capitals and main cities). Annual. Municipalities. Population Census

Table of INEBase Population by year of arrival in Spain, year of arrival in the municipality, sex, age (major groups) and nationality (Spanish/foreign) (Provincial capitals and main cities). Annual. Municipalities. Censo de Población

In 1500, the largest city was Paris, with an estimated 225 thousand inhabitants, almost double the population of the second-largest city, Naples. As in 1330, Venice and Milan remain the third and fourth largest cities in Western Europe, however Genoa's population almost halved from 1330 until 1500, as it was struck heavily by the bubonic plague in the mid-1300s. In lists prior to this, the largest cities were generally in Spain and Italy, however, as time progressed, the largest populations could be found more often in Italy and France. The year 1500 is around the beginning of what we now consider modern history, a time that saw the birth of many European empires and inter-continental globalization.

Historical dataset of population level and growth rate for the Valencia, Spain metro area from 1950 to 2026.

cities. name, Area, Elevation, Country, administrative division, continent, latitude, longitude, population

In 2025, approximately 23 million people lived in the São Paulo metropolitan area, making it the biggest in Latin America and the Caribbean and the sixth most populated in the world. The homonymous state of São Paulo was also the most populous federal entity in the country. The second place for the region was Mexico City with 22.75 million inhabitants. Brazil's cities Brazil is home to two large metropolises, only counting the population within the city limits, São Paulo had approximately 11.45 million inhabitants, and Rio de Janeiro around 6.21 million inhabitants. It also contains a number of smaller, but well known cities such as Brasília, Salvador, Belo Horizonte and many others, which report between 2 and 3 million inhabitants each. As a result, the country's population is primarily urban, with nearly 88 percent of inhabitants living in cities. Mexico City Mexico City's metropolitan area ranks sevenths in the ranking of most populated cities in the world. Founded over the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan in 1521 after the Spanish conquest as the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, the city still stands as one of the most important in Latin America. Nevertheless, the preeminent economic, political, and cultural position of Mexico City has not prevented the metropolis from suffering the problems affecting the rest of the country, namely, inequality and violence. Only in 2023, the city registered a crime incidence of 52,723 reported cases for every 100,000 inhabitants and around 24 percent of the population lived under the poverty line.

This dataset contains detailed information about the 52 provincial capitals of Spain, including geographic coordinates, elevation, area, population (2024), population density, climate classification, average temperature, and annual rainfall. It is designed for data analysis, visualization, clustering, mapping, and geographic studies. All values come from stable public sources such as the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), AEMET, and municipal open data portals.

🌍 Why This Dataset Is Useful Spain has a wide variety of climates, landscapes, and population distributions. This dataset allows users to explore: - Coastal vs inland city differences - Climate variation across Spain - Population density patterns - Geographic clustering - Urban vs rural capital characteristics - Temperature and rainfall correlations - Mapping and geospatial analysis It’s ideal for: - Machine learning beginners - Data visualization projects - Geographic analysis - Climate studies - Educational notebooks

🧪 Example Analyses You Can Do - Cluster cities by climate and geography - Create a map of Spain colored by population density - Compare rainfall between northern and southern capitals - Predict temperature based on latitude and elevation - Visualize coastal vs inland differences

📜 License This dataset is released for public use for analysis, research, and educational purposes.

🙌 Acknowledgements Created by Toma as part of a data analysis learning project. If you use this dataset in a notebook or project, feel free to share your work — it helps others learn too.

IMPORTANT: This study is part of my learning process in the data analysis field. I will try to improve it as I advance with my studies.

Table of INEBase Population by year of arrival in Spain, year of arrival in the municipality, sex, age (major groups) and nationality (Spanish/foreign) (Provincial capitals and main cities). Annual. Municipalities. Population Census

Table of INEBase Population by previous residence, sex, age (big groups) and country of birth (Spain/foreign). Annual. Autonomous Communities and Cities. Population Census

Historical dataset of population level and growth rate for the Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago metro area from 1950 to 2026.

Historical dataset of population level and growth rate for the Alicante, Spain metro area from 1950 to 2026.