The population density of Spain maintained a steadily at a rate of over 92 inhabitants per square kilometers in the last decade, with the latest figures revealing a density of 95 people per square kilometer in 2022. Spain’s degree of urbanization is rather high, with levels reaching over 81 percent of urbanization in the country. Andalusia, with a total number of 8.6 million inhabitants, ranked first on the list of most populous autonomous communities in Spain.

Population density: a world of contrast

Spain is far from the European Union’s average population density, which stood at approximately 111.89 people per square kilometer in 2021, that is, a difference of over 17 people per square meter below the average. Monaco, the country with the highest population density in the world, featured about 24,621 inhabitants per square kilometer, making Spain’s population density look minimal. The results in Macao were very similar, with a population density that reached over 21,000 people per square kilometer.

The re-population of a country

The population of Spain declined for many years during the economic recession, returning to a positive trend after 2015. The Spanish population is projected to increase by nearly two million by 2028 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.

Spain population density for 400m H3 hexagons.

Built from Kontur Population: Global Population Density for 400m H3 Hexagons Vector H3 hexagons with population counts at 400m resolution.

Fixed up fusion of GHSL, Facebook, Microsoft Buildings, Copernicus Global Land Service Land Cover, Land Information New Zealand, and OpenStreetMap data.

As of January 2025, Andalusia was the most populated autonomous community in Spain, with a total amount of approximately 8.6 million inhabitants. Catalonia and Madrid followed closely, with populations amounting to approximately eight million and seven million respectively. The population in Spain has also been analyzed by gender and autonomous community.

WorldPop produces different types of gridded population count datasets, depending on the methods used and end application. Please make sure you have read our Mapping Populations overview page before choosing and downloading a dataset.

Datasets are available to download in Geotiff and ASCII XYZ format at a resolution of 30 arc-seconds (approximately 1km at the equator)

-Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020: Population density datasets for all countries of the World for each year 2000-2020 – derived from the corresponding Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 population count datasets by dividing the number of people in each pixel by the pixel surface area. These are produced using the unconstrained top-down modelling method.
-Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 UN adjusted: Population density datasets for all countries of the World for each year 2000-2020 – derived from the corresponding Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 population UN adjusted count datasets by dividing the number of people in each pixel, adjusted to match the country total from the official United Nations population estimates (UN 2019), by the pixel surface area. These are produced using the unconstrained top-down modelling method.

Data for earlier dates is available directly from WorldPop.

WorldPop (www.worldpop.org - School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton; Department of Geography and Geosciences, University of Louisville; Departement de Geographie, Universite de Namur) and Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University (2018). Global High Resolution Population Denominators Project - Funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1134076). https://dx.doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/WP00674

Spain is gradually becoming older, or so it seems when looking at the latest studies which forecast that the average Spaniard would be 51.79 years old by the year 2050. The Mediterranean country featured a median age of 26.48 years old in 1950, but this trend shifted towards a steady aging of the Spanish population in the subsequent years. Spain’s median age was approximately 44 years in 2020. Aging: a common problem across the continent Data related to age in the Mediterranean country essentially behaves similarly to the rest of its European counterparts, whose population is also slowly but surely getting older. This will not come as a surprise since Spain has one of the highest life expectancies at birth in the world and the lowest European fertility rate, which stood at 1.29 children per woman according to the latest reports. Older, but growing population Despite its aging, the population of Spain has been growing for the past couple of years and is expected to surpass 49 million residents by 2026, mainly due to immigration. During the last ten years, the country featured a continuous population density of approximately 95 inhabitants per square kilometer – a figure far from the European average, which stood nearly at 112 inhabitants per square kilometer in 2021.

The world's most accurate population datasets. Seven maps/datasets for the distribution of various populations in Spain: (1) Overall population density (2) Women (3) Men (4) Children (ages 0-5) (5) Youth (ages 15-24) (6) Elderly (ages 60+) (7) Women of reproductive age (ages 15-49).

According to a survey conducted in Spain in September 2024, 37.6 percent of respondents stated they considered themselves lapsed Catholic. The second-largest denomination was practicing Catholics, with nearly 20 percent of respondents.

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

Spain administrative division with aggregated population. Built from Kontur Population: Global Population Density for 400m H3 Hexagons on top of OpenStreetMap administrative boundaries data. Enriched with HASC codes for regions taken from Wikidata.
Global version of boundaries dataset: Kontur Boundaries: Global administrative division with aggregated population

Population density of Islas Canarias rose by 0.57% from 279.6 persons per sq. km in 2009 to 281.2 persons per sq. km in 2010. Since the 2.36% upward trend in 2003, population density leapt by 13.57% in 2010.

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 three 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.

The province in which the Catalan capital, Barcelona, is located has experienced a significant increase in population since 1996. In January 2023, the inhabitants of the province of Barcelona amounted to nearly 5.8 million, which is also the highest figure registered during the period under consideration.

Chart and table of EN.ATM.CO2E.GF.KT population density from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

281,2 (Persons per sq. km) in 2010.

5.466,0 (Persons per sq. km) in 2010.

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.

60,0 (Persons per sq. km) in 2010.

109,9 (Persons per sq. km) in 2010.

This dataset provides long-term information about Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica hispanica Schimper, 1848) presence in Sierra Nevada (SE Iberian Peninsula), as a result of annual sampling from 1993 to 2018 done by the managers of the Sierra Nevada Natural and National Park. They carried out the transects collecting different variables such as the number of individuals observed, the perpendicular distance of each group of goats to the transect line and, at an individual level and sex as well as age of individuals in the case of males. These data enabled the calculation of population parameters such as density, sex ratio, birth rate and age structure. These parameters are key for Iberian ibex conservation and management, given that Sierra Nevada harbours the largest population of this species in the Iberian Peninsula. The data set we present is structured using the Darwin Core biological standard, which contains 3,091 events (582 transect walk events and 2,509 group sighting events), 5,396 occurrences, and 2,502 measurements. The occurrences include the sightings of 11,436 individuals (grouped by sex and age) from 1993 to 2018 in a total of 88 transects distributed along Sierra Nevada, of which 33 have been continuously sampled since 2008.

26.6 (Persons per sq. km) in 2010.