The resident population in Spain increased by 81,520 in the fourth quarter, and stood at 49,570,725 inhabitants as of 1 January 2026. This is the highest-ever figure since records began.
In annual terms, estimated population growth was 442,428 people.
Provisional data since 1 April 2025
This growth in Spain's population was due to an increase in the number of people born abroad, since the number of births in Spain decreased. The population born abroad surpassed 10 million for the first time -10,004,581 people- and was greater than that of foreign nationality, due to the processes of acquiring Spanish citizenship.
Thus, the number of foreigners rose by 56,431 during the quarter, reaching 7,243,561. The population of Spanish nationals increased by 25,089.
Fourth quarter 2025
The number of households stood at 19,746,638 on 1 January 2026, with an increase of 46,332 during the fourth quarter of 2025.
Provisional data.
The main nationalities of immigrants during the fourth quarter of 2025 were Colombian (with 36,600 arrivals in Spain), Venezuelan (27,000) and Moroccan (22,000).
On the other hand, the most numerous nationalities of emigrants were Moroccans (with 13,000 departures), Colombians (12,500) and Spanish (7,900).
Fourth quarter 2025
Fourth quarter 2025
During the fourth quarter 2025, the population rose in all autonomous communities, except in Illes Balears. It also grew in the autonomous city of Ceuta, although it declined in the autonomous city of Melilla. The greatest increases were registered in Comunitat Valenciana (0.34%), Castilla-La Mancha (0.27%), and Comunidad de Madrid (0.24%).
Variation between the fourth and third quarters of 2025. Percentage
The CPS data is provisional from the latest census published. For population data, the provisional category will be revised quarterly until a new population census is published at the end of the year, and will be included as definitive resident population as soon as possible, before the next publication of the ECP (February of the following year).
Population data on family dwellings and households are also provisional and are revised every quarter until the publication of a new housing census (it has no established periodicity), which will become definitive. Meanwhile, the migration data constitute only a first estimation. The definitive statistics are published in the Statistics on Migrations and Changes of Residence, which is published annually.
All results of this operation are available on INEbase.
The purpose of the Continuous Population Statistics (CPS) is to provide a quantitative measurement of the population habitually resident in Spain, of the population resident in family dwellings and of the number of households. The population series are disaggregated by sex, year of birth, age, country of nationality and country of birth. The series of households are disaggregated by household and number of numbers.
The CPS always contains two types of data: definitive (until the latest published census), and provisional (since the last published census).
In addition, the CPS offers a first estimate of the external migrations detected during the quarter, for the main nationalities and countries of birth. These series will not be revised.
For more information, you can access the methodology and the standardised methodological report.
INE statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Good Practice for European Statistics. More information on Quality at INE and the Code of Best Practices.
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