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Spain Population and Religion Percentage

Spain is a country in Southwestern Europe with some pockets of territory across the Strait of Gibraltar and the Atlantic Ocean. Spain is the 6th most populated country in Europe and the 4th largest by Area.

According to Continuous Register Statistics, Provisional data as of January 1, 2021, the Population of Spain is 47,344,649 (47.3 million). The population decreases by 106,146 (-0.22%) people during 2020-2021. Of the total population, 88.6% have Spanish nationality and 11.4% are foreign. 

As per the Population Projection report, the population of Spain in 2024 is 47,473,373 (47.4 million)

Source: INE’s Continuous Register Statistics, Spain

Spain Demography

Spain2022 Population
Total Population47,353,590 (47.3 million)
Europe Rank6
Land Area 498,980 sq. km (192,660 sq. mi )
Area Rank4th
Pop. Density243 people per mi2 (94 per Km2 )
Fertility Rate1.33 
Median Age44.9 years
Life Expectancy83.99 years
Urban Population80.30%
Capital CityMadrid

Source: INE’s Continuous Register Statistics, Spain

Religion in Spain

Christianity is the main religion in Spain and the majority of the Spanish population is Catholic. As per the estimates, 68% of the population identified as Christians. The majority of Christians are Catholics and other affiliations are less than a percent.

Non-Christian faiths account for 3%, and the remaining 29% are classified as unaffiliated, which can mean agnostic, atheist, or “nothing in particular.” The vast majority of unaffiliated adults in Spain (86%) say they were raised as Christians. 

Islam is the second largest religion, Other religions include Jews, Hinduism, Sikh, Buddhism, and other smaller faiths.  Smaller faiths include Paganism and Taoism.

ReligionPercent %
Christianity68%
  Catholicism 67%
  Other Christian -1%
Other Religion3%
  Islam -1.3%
  Hinduism/Sikhism -0.5%
  Judaism -0.2%
  Others-1%
Unaffiliated29%
  Irreligious-16.8%
  Atheism -9.6%
  Did not answer-2.6%

Source: Pew Research Center 

Spain Historical Population

Spain’s population is at 19 million in 1900 & doubled during the twentieth century. It peaked in 2019 with 47 million inhabitants, but the pattern of growth was extremely uneven due to large-scale internal migration from the rural interior to the industrial cities.

Eleven of Spain’s fifty provinces saw an absolute decline in population over the century. The last quarter of the century saw a dramatic fall in birth rates & Its start felling during the 1980s and Spain’s population became stalled.

In terms of emigration vs. immigration, after decades of net emigration after the Spanish Civil War, Spain has experienced massive large-scale immigration for the first time in modern history over the past 30 years. As of 2020, there were 7,231,195 foreign-born people in Spain, making up to 15.23% of the Spanish population including 5,015,263 (10.57%) born in a non-European country.

Let’s have look at the Population from the Year 1833 to the 2021

YearPopulation Percentage Change
183312,286,941—    
184612,162,872−1.0%
185715,464,34027.10%
187716,622,1757.50%
188717,549,6085.60%
190018,616,6306.10%
191019,990,6697.40%
192021,388,5517.00%
193023,677,09510.70%
194026,014,2789.90%
195028,117,8738.10%
196030,582,9368.80%
197033,956,04711.00%
198137,683,36311.00%
199138,872,2683.20%
200140,847,3715.10%
201146,815,91614.60%
202147,344,649 1.20%
Top Cities in Spain by Population
#CityProvincePopulation
1MadridCommunity of Madrid32,66,126
2BarcelonaCatalonia16,08,746
3ValenciaValencian Community7,94,288
4SevilleAndalusia6,88,592
5ZaragozaAragon6,74,997
6MálagaAndalusia5,74,654
7MurciaRegion of Murcia4,53,258
8PalmaBalearic Islands4,16,065
9Las PalmasCanary Islands3,79,925
10BilbaoBasque Country3,46,843
11AlicanteValencian Community3,34,887
12CórdobaAndalusia3,25,701
13ValladolidCastile and León2,98,412
14VigoGalicia2,95,364
15GijónPrincipality of Asturias2,71,780
16L’HospitaletCatalonia2,54,804
17Vitoria-GasteizBasque Country2,51,774
18A CoruñaGalicia2,45,711
19ElcheValencian Community2,32,517
20GranadaAndalusia2,32,462

Source: 2019 Census

Spanish Diaspora

People of Spanish ancestry form an important group in several countries in North and South America. The Spanish diaspora is concentrated in places that were part of the Spanish Empire. According to the estimates, there were 290 million people of full or partial Spanish ancestry in the Americas.

American Countries with sizeable populations are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, and, to a lesser extent, Brazil, Belize, Haiti, United States, and Canada.

read more about Spanish Ancestry in America

Spain Population 2024 | Religion in Spain
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