Arrival of 126,804 migrants leads to second-largest population increase since 2009

Catalonia saw 126,804 new migrants in 2023, according to the latest data published by the Catalan Statistics Institute (Idescat) on Thursday.

The study shows the arrival of migrants is the principal reason behind the second-largest population increase since 2009, just behind figures from 2022 when Catalonia saw 140,140 new inhabitants.

On January 1, 2024, there were 8,012,231 Catalan residents, 110,268 more than the previous year. However, this was slightly lower than the 140,140 new inhabitants registered on January 1, 2023.

The increase in population is the second-largest one recorded since 2009.

The rising population is driven by migration, which is higher than in 2021 when Catalonia saw 25,701 new migrants. Barcelona alone saw 45,402 new migrants moving to the city in 2023.

In 2023, Catalonia registered 54,217 births and 67,662 deaths, resulting in a negative balance of 13,445 people. After Spain's Civil War and until 2018, there were more births than deaths, but from 2018, with special emphasis on 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the overall number is negative due to a low birth rate.

Authorities have registered more deaths than births for six consecutive years.

In Catalonia, 14.9% of the population is made up of people aged 0 to 15, down from 15.2%. The number of people between 16 and 64 increased from 65.4% to 65.5%—meanwhile, the number of people 65 or older accounts for 19.5% of the population.