Figures from Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) have revealed that the Spanish population increased by more than 50,000 people last year, with all the growth driven by immigration.
The number of Spaniards decreased last year by 21,920 people, while that of foreigners increased by 72,410, which meant an increase in the global population of 50,490 for a total of 47,435,597 inhabitants of the country.
The number of Spaniards in Spain remains below 42 million, while the number of foreigners residing in the country now exceeds 5.5 million. The province of Almería registered the largest number of foreign residents, with 21.8 percent of the total population, The world reports.
The provinces of Girona and Alicante also have a migrant population of over 20 percent.
Over the course of the first year of the Wuhan virus pandemic, Spain’s birth rate fell by more than five percent, while the death rate rose 18 percent.
Spain’s birth rate fell by more than five percent during 2020, further lowering the country’s already low birth rate, while the death rate rose by nearly 18 percent. https://t.co/OsYn9HnTbJ
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) December 11, 2021
The Spanish birth rate is said to stand at just 1.19 children per woman, down from 1.24 in 2019, and is the lowest birth rate since the 1990s. Spain does not have a birth rate of replacement of 2.1 children per woman since 1980.
The figures also highlight Spain’s demographic change, which former Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell, now High Representative of the European Union, commented on in 2019, arguing that mass migration could solve Spain’s supposed problem of an aging population.
“The demographic evolution of Europe shows that unless we want to gradually become an aging continent, we need new blood, and it does not seem that this new blood comes from our ability to procreate,” said the Socialist Workers Party politician.
Mass migration has been a driving force for population growth in much of Europe for years, as birth rates have fallen or remained low in many countries.
In 2019, mass migration accounted for nearly 90% of population growth in Belgium, for example, while in Sweden the figure was 73% that year.
The following year, Sweden experienced its lowest population growth in 15 years, largely attributed to travel restrictions that prevented immigration to the country on the same scale as usual.
Europe needs ‘new blood’: Spain expects 50,000 immigrants from North Africa https://t.co/EZbTgGQu4F
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) August 1, 2018