In 2024, the total population of Spain was around 48.38 million people. By 2029, it was forecast to grow up to 50.76 million inhabitants.

Population of Spain While Spain’s fertility rate has been relatively decreasing over the past decade, its year-over-year population growth has been increasing continuously since 2016. The collapse of the job and real estate markets may have led the Spanish to postpone having (more) kids or to migrate to other countries in search of a more stable economy, while inflow of migrates has increased . This theory is supported by data on the average age of Spain’s inhabitants; a look at the median age of Spain’s population from 1950 up until today shows that the Spanish get older on average – perhaps due to the aforementioned factors.

Economic recovery Speaking of Spain’s economy, economic key factors suggest that the country is still recovering from the crisis. Its gross domestic product (GDP) was in admirable shape prior to the collapse, but it still has not returned to its former glory. Only recently has Spain reported actual GDP growth since 2008. Nevertheless, during 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, Spain's GDP had a decrease of more than 11 percent. This in turn, led to an increase of the country’s unemployment rate after years of slowly but surely decreasing following an alarming peak of 26 percent in 2013. Future perspectives are, however, somewhat brighter, as GDP is forecast to maintain a positive growth rate at least until 2029, even exceeding two percentage points in 2025.

In 1800, the population of Spain was approximately 14.7 million. This figure would rise consistently throughout the 19th century, and early 20th century. The population growth rate was set to increase in the mid-1900s, but this was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War, which would claim around half a million lives between 1936 and 1939. In spite of the war, the Spanish population continued to grow throughout these years, and reached 28 million by the middle of the century. Between the 1950s and 1970s, Spain observed a significant increase in its population growth, facilitated by the baby boom that followed the Second World War (as in most of Western Europe) as well as general medical improvements and increased life expectancy.

Beginning in the 1980s, Spain would begin a demographic transition marked by a dramatic drop in the fertility rate of the country, resulting in the population only growing by two million between the mid-1980s and 2000 (compared to an increase of two million every five or six years beforehand). There was a sharp rise in Spain’s population from 2000 to 2008, as strong economic growth would be accompanied by a dramatic surge in immigration to the country. This would plateau at just over 46 million in 2008 however, as the Great Recession took its toll on the country’s economy, and in 2020, Spain is estimated to have a population of approximately 46.8 million, which is the sixth-largest in Europe.

The total population in Spain was estimated at 49.1 million people in 2024, according to the latest census figures and projections from Trading Economics. This dataset provides - Spain Population - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Historical chart and dataset showing total population for Spain by year from 1950 to 2025.

Key information about Spain population

• The Spain population reached 48.1 million people in Dec 2023, compared with the previously reported figure of 47.5 million people in Dec 2022
• The data reached an all-time high of 48.1 million people in Dec 2023 and a record low of 28.1 million people in Dec 1950

• In the latest reports, Spain Unemployment Rate dropped to 11.2 % in Sep 2024
• Monthly earnings of the Spain population was 2,545.5 USD in Sep 2024
• Spain Labour Force Participation Rate increased to 59.0 % in Sep 2024

Continuous Population Statistics: Resident population by date, sex, age group and nationality (Spanish/foreign). Quarterly. Autonomous Communities and Cities.

Graph and download economic data for Population, Total for Spain (POPTOTESA647NWDB) from 1960 to 2023 about Spain and population.

As of January 2024, the Spanish-born population accounted for more than 42 million out of the national total. Foreign-born residents grew during the analyzed period of time, with over 6.5 million in 2023, while between 2014 and 2018 they amounted to less than five million. The population in Spain has also been analyzed by autonomous community, with Andalusia topping the list of the most populated regions.

Population, female (% of total population) in Spain was reported at 50.9 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Spain - Population, female (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Historical chart and dataset showing Spain population growth rate by year from 1961 to 2023.

Graph and download economic data for Infra-Annual Labor Statistics: Working-Age Population Total: From 15 to 64 Years for Spain (LFWA64TTESQ647N) from Q1 1999 to Q4 2024 about working-age, Spain, 15 to 64 years, and population.

Spain ES: International Migrant Stock: % of Population data was reported at 12.690 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 13.476 % for 2010. Spain ES: International Migrant Stock: % of Population data is updated yearly, averaging 6.716 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2015, with 6 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 13.476 % in 2010 and a record low of 2.096 % in 1990. Spain ES: International Migrant Stock: % of Population 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. International migrant stock is the number of people born in a country other than that in which they live. It also includes refugees. The data used to estimate the international migrant stock at a particular time are obtained mainly from population censuses. The estimates are derived from the data on foreign-born population--people who have residence in one country but were born in another country. When data on the foreign-born population are not available, data on foreign population--that is, people who are citizens of a country other than the country in which they reside--are used as estimates. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 people living in one of the newly independent countries who were born in another were classified as international migrants. Estimates of migrant stock in the newly independent states from 1990 on are based on the 1989 census of the Soviet Union. For countries with information on the international migrant stock for at least two points in time, interpolation or extrapolation was used to estimate the international migrant stock on July 1 of the reference years. For countries with only one observation, estimates for the reference years were derived using rates of change in the migrant stock in the years preceding or following the single observation available. A model was used to estimate migrants for countries that had no data.; ; United Nations Population Division, Trends in Total Migrant Stock: 2008 Revision.; Weighted average;

Spain Population: Madrid data was reported at 6,576,009.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 6,507,184.000 Person for 2016. Spain Population: Madrid data is updated yearly, averaging 6,271,638.000 Person from Dec 1997 (Median) to 2017, with 21 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6,576,009.000 Person in 2017 and a record low of 5,091,336.000 Person in 1997. Spain Population: Madrid data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by National Statistics Institute. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Spain – Table ES.G001: Population: at 1st of January.

Spain ES: Population: Total data was reported at 46,572,028.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 46,484,062.000 Person for 2016. Spain ES: Population: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 38,797,351.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 46,773,055.000 Person in 2012 and a record low of 30,455,000.000 Person in 1960. Spain ES: Population: Total 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. Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates.; ; (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.; Sum; Relevance to gender indicator: disaggregating the population composition by gender will help a country in projecting its demand for social services on a gender basis.

As of July 2024, out of the 48.80 million residents of Spain, approximately 6.6 million individuals were foreign residents. Spanish-born residents accounted for 42 million in 2024, a figure that has been declining since 2020, in contrast to the foreign-born population, which has been gradually increasing.

Population ages 65 and above, female (% of female population) in Spain was reported at 22.88 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Spain - Population ages 65 and above, female (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) in Spain was reported at 12.64 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Spain - Population ages 0-14, female (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Spain: Population size, in millions: The latest value from 2023 is 48.37 million, an increase from 47.78 million in 2022. In comparison, the world average is 40.69 million, based on data from 196 countries. Historically, the average for Spain from 1960 to 2023 is 39.76 million. The minimum value, 30.46 million, was reached in 1960 while the maximum of 48.37 million was recorded in 2023.

Rural population (% of total population) in Spain was reported at 18.45 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Spain - Rural population - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on May of 2025.

Censo de Población: Population by year of arrival in Spain, year of arrival in the Autonomous Community, sex, age (big groups) and nationality (Spanish/foreign). Annual. Autonomous Communities and Cities.