The number of foreign residents residing in Catalonia reached 1,361,981 people On January 1, 2023, they represent 17.2% of the population, according to the Statistics Institute of Catalonia (Idescat). The number of foreigners increased by 126,309 people, an annual increase of 10.2%. The increase in the foreign population has been recorded in all Catalan regions, especially in Cerdanya (+16.2%), Repulse (+15.2%), Garrotxa and Barcelones (+13.2%, both). The provinces with the largest number of foreigners are Segara (28.8%), Alte Empordà (25.4%), Barcelones (22.6%), Silva (21.7%), Pla d'Urgel (21.3%) and Pécs Empordà (21.3%).
Conversely, the lowest proportions of foreign residents are found in Valles Oriental (10%). Anoia (10.1%), Moyanes (10.1%), Pallars Sobirà (10.7%) and Brigida (10.9%).
In 2022, 48,901 foreigners residing in Catalonia obtained Spanish citizenship, 40.5% of whom came from Africa and 26.1% from South America.
Overall, there is a lot of heterogeneity and more than 170 nationalities are represented. The population of Morocco is the largest, with 234,054 people. Which represents 17.2% of the total foreign population. In addition, it has a higher proportion of men than women (56.8% and 43.2%, respectively) and 20% of the total population is between 0 and 15 years old. By region, the Moroccan population is heaviest in Alt Penedès (41.5%)Anoia (40.6%) and Bagis (39.2%).
The second most important nationality is RomanianTheir number is 86,751 people and 6.4% of the total number of foreigners. The regions with the greatest weight are Terra Alta (49.3% of the total foreign population) and Les Garages (35.4%). In this case, the percentage of women (51.1%) is higher than the percentage of men (48.9%). In terms of age, young adults (16.9%) are slightly heavier than average (15.2%), and the 65 and older group represents only 3.1%.
The third most represented nationality is Italian, With 80,808 people and approximately 6% of the total number of foreigners. Barcelones and Graf are the two most represented provinces, with 9.2% of the total foreign population. The percentage of men (53.9%) is higher than the percentage of women (46.1%). In this case, the proportion of young people is very low (9.9%), as is the proportion of people over 65 years of age (6.4%).
46 municipalities have more than 25% foreigners
According to Idescat, the presence of foreigners is closely related to the size of municipalities. In total there are 46 municipalities where the percentage of foreign residents exceeds 25%. These include Gisona (52.7%), Castelo d'Empores (44.9%), La Portilla (39.8%), Lloret de Mar (38.8%), and Salt (37.8%).
More than 40 thousand Ukrainians
On the other hand, Idescat reported that in 2023, 40,615 people of Ukrainian nationality, 16,116 men and 24,499 women, resided in Catalonia. By region, Barcelona has 10,139, followed by Silva (3,534), Valles Occidental (2,589), Paix Llobregat (2485) and Al-Maresme (1972).
In terms of municipality, Barcelona has the largest number (7,866), followed by Lloret de Mar (2,298), Gesona (1,154) and Badalona (1,028).
The Ukrainian population represents 3% of all foreigners residing in Catalonia, while in the Segara region one in five residents is Ukrainian (21.1%).
A third of foreigners are European
On the other hand, the foreign population of European origin is the largest in Catalonia and represents almost a third of foreign residents in Catalonia as of January 1, 2023, representing 31.5% of the total. Of these, 22.2% belong to the European Union and 9.3% to the rest of Europe. The American population comes in second place (30.8%), followed by Africans (23.9%) and Asians (13.7%).
The US population increased the most compared to the previous year, both in absolute terms (+68,914) and in relative terms (+19.6%). Followed by the European population, with an increase of 38,789 people, or 9.9%. The European community grew by 13,648 people (4.7%) and those from the rest of Europe by 25,141 people (24.7%). The population of Africa increases by 9,598 people (3%), that of Asia by 8,813 people (5%), and the population of Oceania by 145 people (15.2%).
By nationality, increases in population are notable from Colombia (+22,801), Ukraine (+17,581), Peru (+10,987), Honduras (+8,025), and Venezuela (+7,403). On the other hand, the countries that lost population are Bolivia (-1004) and the United Kingdom (-235).
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