The resident population in the Canary Islands as of January 1, 2024 grew by 25,738 people compared to the previous year, reaching 2,238,754 citizens (1.16% more), with increases in all the islands, especially in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura.
The population growth was led by the population of foreign nationality, which contributed 14,829 new residents to the islands (+4.71%), while the number of nationals registered in the Canary Islands grew by 10,909 people (+0.57%). .
By census size, Tenerife began 2024 with 959,189 inhabitants, 10,374 more (+1.09%); Gran Canaria, with 869,984, 7,091 more (+0.82%); Lanzarote, with 163,230, 4,432 more (2.79%); Fuerteventura, with 126,676, 2,524 more (+2.03%); La Palma, with 85,383, 1,044 more (+1.23%); La Gomera, with 22,507, 146 more (+0.65%); and El Hierro, with 11,786, 127 more (+1.08%).
In Spain, the resident population grew in all communities compared to a year before, and it did so especially in the coastal municipalities of Torrevieja (Alicante), Arrecife (Lanzarote) and Granadilla de Abona (Tenerife).
According to the Annual Population Census published this Thursday by the INE, the resident population in Spain on January 1, 2024 stood at 48,619,695 inhabitants, 534,334 more people than on the same date in 2023 (1.1% more) , a figure already surpassed by the INE’s Continuous Population Statistics, which raises that figure to 48,946,035 inhabitants October 1, 2024.
Of the 48.6 million inhabitants included in the census, 42.1 million had Spanish nationality (86.6%) and 6.5 million had foreign nationality (13.4%) – 6.8% more than the year former-.
The largest increases in foreigners during 2023 occurred among citizens of Colombia (124,566 more), Peru (47,598) and Venezuela (47,095). The most numerous foreigners were Moroccans (920,693), Romanians (620,463) and Colombians (587,477).
The population grows more in three coastal towns
Torrevieja (with 6.7%), Arrecife (5.1%) and Granadilla de Abona (3.9%) were the cities with the greatest population growth throughout 2023.
On the contrary, the largest decreases occurred in Cádiz (down 0.8%), San Fernando (0.3%) and Getxo (0.2%).
During 2023, the population increased in all the autonomous communities, to a greater extent in Madrid (137,365 more people), Catalonia (110,268) and the Valencian Community (103,090).
In relative terms, the largest increases occurred in the Community of Madrid and Comunitat Valenciana (2% in both) and in the Balearic Islands (1.8%).
By provinces, the number of inhabitants increased in all except six. Those that grew the most were Valencia and Madrid (both 2%) and Alicante (1.9%); On the other hand, the greatest decreases were recorded in Zamora (0.4%), Jaén (0.3%) and León (0.2%).
In 4,298 of the 8,132 municipalities existing as of January 1, 2024 (52.9% of the total), the population increased or remained the same during 2023.
By age, only minors descend
The census records the increase of 2.48% of the population over 64 years of age in relative terms (from 9,687,776 to 9,928,368), 1.19% of those between 16 and 64 years of age (from 31,343. 030 to 31,716,737) and those under 16 years of age are reduced by 1.13% (7,054,555 to 6,974,590).
The relative weight of the population over 64 years of age was 20.4%, which translated into the dependency rate of those over 64 years of age (ratio between the population over 64 years of age and that of 16 to 64 years of age) It stood at 0.31, explains the INE.
Six out of ten live in their province of birth
Depending on the place of birth, 43.4% of the population resided on January 1, 2024 in the same municipality in which they were born and 21.8% in another municipality in the same province.
For its part, the percentage of people born abroad reached 18.2% (on the same date in 2023 it was 17.1%).
Among those born abroad, 12.4% (more than one million inhabitants) were born in Morocco, 9.7% in Colombia and 6.8% in Venezuela.
