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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 few years. In 2023, 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 indicate that Germany accommodated around 16 million foreign-born citizens, ranking it as the country that hosted the most immigrants in Europe in 2022. By comparison, Spain’s foreign population stood at over seven million, positioning the Western Mediterranean country third on the European list of foreign-born populations. Unfortunately, thousands of people 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.