Immigration to Spain

Immigration to Spain, which had been very low for much of the country's history, increased sharply in the early 21st century. For example, in 1998, immigrants made up just 1.6% of the population, but by 2009, that figure had exceeded 12%. Following a decline during the economic crisis, immigration began to rise again after 2015, with a marked acceleration after 2021, with the foreign-born population now reaching 20.3% of the total population as of January 2026.

As of 1 January 2026, the most recent date for which data are available by specific countries and regions, the foreign-born population in Spain represented 20.3% of the total population. Of these, 4.92% were born in other European countries, while the remaining 14.34% originated from outside Europe. The largest share of the non-European population came from South America, accounting for 7.61% of the total population, followed by those from Africa (3.35%), Central America and the Caribbean (1.75%), Asia (1.25%), North America (0.35%), and Oceania (0.02%). Among them, 7,243,561 individuals (14.6% of the total population) did not hold Spanish citizenship. This places Spain as the 4th country in Europe in terms of immigrant population and the 7th worldwide.

During the early 21st century, the average year-on-year demographic growth set a new record with its 2003 peak variation of 2.1%, doubling the previous record reached in the 1960s when a mean year-on-year growth of 1% was experienced. In 2005 alone, the immigrant population of Spain increased by 700,000 people.

Spain accepted 478,990 new immigrant residents in just the first six months of 2022 alone. During these months, 220,443 people also emigrated from Spain, leaving a record-breaking net migration figure of 258,547. More women than men chose to move to Spain during 2022; this is due to higher rates of emigration from Latin America.