As recorded by the source, Moroccans ranked as the foreign nationality with more residents in Spain in 2023, closely followed by Romanians. After years of losing its foreign population, Spain’s immigration figures started to pick up in 2015, with the number of people that moved to the Mediterranean country surpassing the number of foreigners that decided to leave.

A matter of balance The net migration rate of Spain changed its course mainly due to the great inflow of foreigners that move to reside in the Mediterranean country. Spain’s immigration flow slowed down after the 2008 financial crisis, albeit the number of foreigners that opted to change their residence saw a significant growth in the last years. In 2022, Colombians ranked first as the foreign nationality that most relocated to Spain, distantly followed by Moroccans and Ukranians.

Spain does not have the highest number of immigrants in Europe In recent years, the European Union confronted a rising number of refugees arriving from the Middle East. Migration figures show that Germany accommodated approximately 15 million foreign-born citizens, ranking it as the country that most hosted immigrants in Europe in 2022. By comparison, Spain’s foreign population stood slightly over seven million, positioning the Western Mediterranean country third on the European list of foreign-born population. Unfortunately, thousands of persons have died ore gone missing trying to reach Spanish territory, as more and more irregular migrants opt to use dangerous maritime routes to arrive at Southern Europe from Africa's coasts.

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.

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;

Colombia ranked as the country of origin of the largest immigration group arriving into Spain in 2023, as revealed by the latest data. Over 170,000 people migrated from the South American country to Spain that year. The second largest group was comprised by Moroccans with around 122,000 newcomers. A matter of balance The net migration rate of Spain changed its course mainly due to the great inflow of foreigners that move to reside in the Mediterranean country. Spain’s immigration flow slowed down after the 2008 financial crisis, albeit the number of foreigners that opted to change their residence saw a significant growth in the last years. In 2023, Moroccans ranked first as the foreign nationality residing Spain, followed by people from Romania and the Colombians. Spain does not have the highest number of immigrants in Europe In recent years, the European Union confronted a rising number of refugees arriving from the Middle East and Africa. Migration figures show that Germany accommodated approximately 15 million foreign-born citizens, ranking it as the country that most hosted immigrants in Europe in 2023. By comparison, Spain’s foreign population stood over eight million, positioning the Western Mediterranean country third on the European list of foreign-born population. Unfortunately, thousands of persons have died or gone missing trying to reach Spanish territory, as more and more irregular migrants opt to use dangerous maritime routes to arrive at Southern Europe from Africa's coasts.

Population Projections: Immigration from the rest of Spain by sex, generation and year. Annual. Autonomous Communities and Cities.

Spain - Foreign-born population was 8838234.00 in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Spain - Foreign-born population - last updated from the EUROSTAT on July of 2025. Historically, Spain - Foreign-born population reached a record high of 8838234.00 in December of 2024 and a record low of 5883891.00 in December of 2015.

Spain ES: Net Migration data was reported at 200,000.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of -570,000.000 Person for 2012. Spain ES: Net Migration data is updated yearly, averaging 86,946.500 Person from Dec 1962 (Median) to 2017, with 12 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2,838,240.000 Person in 2002 and a record low of -570,000.000 Person in 2012. Spain ES: Net Migration 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. Net migration is the net total of migrants during the period, that is, the total number of immigrants less the annual number of emigrants, including both citizens and noncitizens. Data are five-year estimates.; ; United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; Sum;

Even though Spain has been losing its nationals for most of the last decade, the inflow migration figures of the Mediterranean country saw an increase over the last few years. The year 2022 was the second year after 2020 in which the migration inflow fell compared to the previous year. Nevertheless, the population of Spain has been growing for many years and was projected to increase by one million by 2027.

A matter of balance The net migration rate of Spain changed its course mainly due to the great inflow of foreigners that move to reside in the Mediterranean country. Spain’s immigration flow slowed down after the 2008 financial crisis, albeit the number of foreigners that opted to change their residence saw a significant growth in the last years. In 2022, Colombians ranked first as the foreign nationality that most relocated to Spain, distantly followed by Moroccans and Ukrainians.

Spain does not have the highest number of immigrants in Europe In recent years, the European Union confronted a rising number of refugees arriving from the Middle East. Migration figures show that Germany accommodated approximately 15 million foreign-born citizens, ranking it as the country that most hosted immigrants in Europe in 2022. By comparison, Spain’s foreign population stood over seven million, positioning the Western Mediterranean country third on the European list of foreign-born population. Unfortunately, thousands of persons have died ore gone missing trying to reach Spanish territory, as more and more irregular migrants opt to use dangerous maritime routes to arrive at Southern Europe from Africa's coasts.

Spain ES: International Migrant Stock: Total data was reported at 5,852,953.000 Person in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 6,280,065.000 Person for 2010. Spain ES: International Migrant Stock: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 769,243.000 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2015, with 12 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6,280,065.000 Person in 2010 and a record low of 210,897.000 Person in 1960. Spain ES: International Migrant Stock: 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. 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: 2012 Revision.; Sum;

Combined Longitudinal Study of the Second Generation in Spain data set, Waves 1, 2, and 3. This is the publicly available version of the ILSEG data (ILSEG is the Spanish acronym for Investigación Longitudinal de la Segunda Generación, Longitudinal Study of the Second Generation). Questions address the situations and plans for the future of young Spaniards who are children of immigrants to Spain, who were living in Madrid and Barcelona and attending secondary school in 2007-2008 and the 2011-2012 and 2015-2016 follow ups). The longitudinal study of the second Generation (ILSEG in its Spanish initials) represents the first attempt to conduct a large-scale study of the adaptation of children of immigrants to Spanish society over time. To that end, a large and statistically representative sample of children born to foreign parents in Spain or those brought at an early age to the country was identified and interviewed in metropolitan Madrid and Barcelona for wave 1. In total, almost 7,000 children of immigrants attending basic secondary school in close to 200 educational centers in both cities took part in the study. Because of sample attrition, wave 2 introduced a replacement sample. Additionally, a native born sample of children of Spaniards was also included to enable comparisons between native and immigrant-origin populations of the same age cohort.Topics include basic demographics, national origins, Spanish language acquisition, foreign language knowledge and retention, parents' education and employment, respondents' education and aspirations, religion, household arrangements, life experiences, and attitudes about Spanish society. Demographic variables include age, sex, birth country, language proficiency (Spanish and Catalan), language spoken in the home, number of siblings, mother's and father's birth country, religion, national identity, parent's sex, parent's marital status, parent's birth year, and the year the parent arrived in Spain.

The foreign-born population of Spain was *** million in 2023, compared with *** million in the previous year, and **** million ten years earlier in 2013.

Foreigners who come to the Municipal Office as students in Spanish classes, This portal also offers other data sets related to care in the Municipal Offices of Information and Guidance for the integration of the immigrant population: Immigrants. Persons served in the Immigrant Information and Guidance Service. People served in the Employment Service You can find more information about this data in the Transparency Portal > Immigration .

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.

Since 2015, the inflow of foreign nationals in Spain has been greater than the number of people migrating out of the country. Having peaked in 2021, the number of foreign national leaving Spain reached approximately 481,700 in 2023, in contrast to roughly 1,098,000 that moved into the country. This change in tendency resulted in a positive net migration rate from 2015 onwards.

After reaching its lowest value in 2014, the annual number of foreigners working in Spain has been increasing in recent years. Professionals that came originally from other countries amounted to approximately 2.9 million in 2023, up from 2.6 million the year before.

Distribution of selected characteristics for participants by region of origin: Spanish National Health Survey, 2017.

In 2024, citizens originally from Colombia were the most common South American nationality in Spain, with about ******* residents. The Venezuela population in June of that year was over *******, making this group the second-largest nationality in Spain.

Prevalence Ratios and their 95% confidence intervals for region of origin on the cardiovascular disease risk factors, Spanish National Health Survey 2017.

a Standard Deviation.b % Valid when missing.c Insufficient Oral Spanish language skill.d Insufficient Reading Spanish skills.e Insufficient Writing Spanish skills.f Referral to social worker because of Social Risk factor detection.g Prenatal care as assessed by KI: Adequate: first consultation before week 14 and at least 9 consultations during gestation. Inadequate: start of care after week 28, or less than 4 consultations during gestation. Intermediate: the other combinations.h Prenatal care as assessed by OI: Adequate: all 7 indicators of the Spanish Health Service pregnancy care protocol met. Inadequate: ≥4 indicators unmet. Intermediate: 1–3 indicators unmet.*p ≥ 0.01 - < 0.05** p ≥ 0.001 - < 0.01*** p < 0.001Cantabria (Spain): African immigrants and Spanish women 2007–2010.

Migration Statistic: Immigration flow from abroad by Autonomous Community, year, sex, age group and country of birth (Spanish/foreign). Annual. Autonomous Communities and Cities.