Demographics of Spain
demographics of country
As of 1 July 2026, Spain had a total population of 49,801,559. Spain's population surpassed 49 million inhabitants for the first time in 2025. Its population density, at 97 inhabitants per square kilometre (250/sq mi), is much lower than other Western European countries, yet, with the exception of microstates, it has the highest real density population in Europe, based on density of inhabited areas. With the notable exception of Madrid, Spain's capital city, the most densely populated areas lie around the coast, though recent immigration has contributed to a modest population growth in the inland.
The population of Spain doubled during the twentieth century, 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. In the first 25 years of the 21st century, population of Spain grew from 40 million in 2000 to more than 49 million in 2025 mostly due to immigration.
In 2024, the average total fertility rate (TFR) across Spain was 1.10 children born per woman, one of the lowest in the world.
History
Spain has an interesting demographic evolution in the last two centuries, reflecting the tumultuous history of Spain during the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1808–1814 the Peninsular War happened in Spain, causing 1 million deaths.
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