Alex Trelinski
TORREVIEJA on the Costa Blanca had the highest percentage population growth of any Spanish city in 2023, according to the National Institute of Statistics(INE).
The INE’s Annual Population Census report published on Thursday showed that based on municipal padron registrations, Torrevieja’s population grew by 6.7% last year.
It was followed by Arrecife(Lanzarote) on 5.1% and Granadilla de Abona(Tenerife) with 3.9%.
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The biggest percentage falls were in Cadiz(down 0.8%), San Fernando (0.3%) and Getxo (0.2%).
Of the 48.6 million inhabitants included in the census, 42.1 million were Spanish nationals (86.6%) and 6.5 million were foreign nationals (13.4%) – 6.8% more than the previous year.
The largest increases in foreigners during 2023 were among citizens of Colombia (124,566 more), Peru (47,598) and Venezuela (47,095).
The largest non-Spanish groups were Moroccans (920,693), Romanians (620,463) and Colombians (587,477).
During 2023 the population rose in all 17 regions led by Madrid (137,365 more people), Catalunya (110,268) and the Valencian Community (103,090).
In percentage terms, the biggest increases were in the Community of Madrid and the Valencian Community (2% in both) and in the Balearic Islands (1.8%).
By province, the number of inhabitants increased in all but six.
The ones that grew the most were Valencia and Madrid (2% both) and Alicante (1.9%).
On the other hand, the largest decreases were recorded in Zamora (0.4%), Jaen (0.3%) and Leon (0.2%).
The census reported an increase of 2.48% in the population over 64 years of age in relative terms (from 9,687,776 to 9,928,368) and a decrease of 1.13% for those under 16 years of age (7,054,555 to 6,974,590).
According to place of birth, 43.4% of the population resided on 1 January 2024 in the same municipality in which they were born and 21.8% in another municipality in the same province.
The percentage of people born abroad reached 18.2% (on the same date in 2023 it was 17.1%).
Among those born abroad, 12.4% (more than one million inhabitants) were born in Morocco, 9.7% in Colombia and 6.8% in Venezuela.
