Immigration in Catalonia drops 1% in a year

Barcelona (ACN).- The crisis has affected immigration in Catalonia. According to data published by the Secretary for Immigration of the Catalan Government, there was a 0.8% drop in immigration from July of 2009 to July of 2010. In the past year, 10,000 less immigrants have been recorded in municipal registers. The total immigrant population is now at 1.2 million people. In total, 7,571,316 people live in Catalonia, in which 1,241,522 are foreigners (16.4%) and 6,329,794 have Spanish nationality (83.6%). The immigration drop has primarily affected the male population, with a decrease of 1.74%. Women immigrants have increased by 0.33%, making up 46.1% of the total immigrant population.

By nationality, the largest immigrant population decreases come from Ecuador (-6,707), Bolivia (-3,588), Argentina (-2,772), Brazil (-2,507) and Colombia (-1,772). The Secretary for Immigration said the drop is also a result of immigrants who obtain Spanish citizenship. Despite this phenomenon, immigration is increasing from countries like Pakistan (+3,635), Morocco (+2,464) and Honduras (+1,580).

24 counties with fewer foreigners

24 counties in Catalonia have seen decreases in immigration while 17 have experienced slight increases. The counties in the Alt Pirineu and Aran area recorded the largest decrease, with 2.81% less immigrants. This is 2 points higher than the Catalan average.

Girona counties saw 0.17% of its immigrant population decrease. Counties of Central Catalonia experienced 0.57% less immigrants, followed by Barcelona metropolitan area counties (0.95%), Lleida (1.19%), Tarragona (1.54%) and Terres de l'Ebre (1.26%).

Girona counties have the largest number of immigrants, 22% of its entire population. Terres de l'Ebre, Lleida and Tarragona have a foreign population of 20.8 %, 19.4% and 18.7%, respectively.  The list is completed by the Barcelona Metropolitan area with 15.3% and the Central counties with 12.5%.