Spain’s shrinking population

The data shows that the country’s population dropped for the first time in 2012. Extrapolating from the figures, the institute projects that this trend will continue in 2013 and in future years. Indeed, Spain is expected to see its population shrink from 46.8 million to 46.7million this year, a fall of 0.5 per cent.

The fall has been partly attributed to a decreasing number of births in the country, which from 2017 will be overtaken by the number of deaths for the first time.

But the number of new immigrants has also dipped, as Spain’s struggling economy Sees more people leave the country in search of employment and fairer financial climes. Indeed, net migration in Spain now Sees two people leaving for every one person arriving.

As a result, Spain is forecast to lose 2.6 million of its population in the next 10 years, a decrease of 5.4 per cent between 2013 and 2023. The only regions that will not see their population shrink will be the Canary Islands and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, reports Kyero.