<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>The Spanish population residing abroad has exceeded three million people for the first time in history, according to the latest data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE).</strong></h4> Specifically, the Spanish diaspora increased by 4.7% (137,317 people) in 2024, reaching 3,045,966 people, according to the Statistics of the Register of Spaniards Residing Abroad (PERE) as of January 1, 2025, published this Wednesday. By continent, 59.3% of those registered on that date had established their residence in the Americas, 37.2% in Europe, and 3.6% in the rest of the world. In absolute terms, the largest increases in registrations during 2024 occurred in the Americas (97,735 more) and Europe (36,079). In relative terms, the largest increases occurred in the Americas (5.7%) and Asia (5.4%). The foreign countries with the largest number of Spanish nationals residing as of January 1, 2025, were Argentina (505,940, an increase of almost 5 percent compared to January 1, 2024), France (320,749, an increase of 3.4%), and the United States (220,715, an increase of 7 percent). They were followed by the United Kingdom (up 3.8%) and Germany (up 2.8%). In absolute terms, the largest increases in the Spanish population during 2024 were recorded in Argentina (23,764 more), Mexico (17,937), and the United States (14,437), followed by France (10,677) and Cuba (8,886). Furthermore, 71.8% (2,186,588 people) of Spaniards residing abroad as of January 1, 2025, were born outside of Spain, and 59.5% (1,811,878) were born in their current country of residence. Furthermore, and following this same trend, four out of every five new registrations in the PERE (Pere) during 2024 corresponded to people born outside of Spain. The majority of this group corresponded to residents of the Americas (155,014 people) and people born in their own country of residence (131,679). Regarding new registrations of people born in Spain, residents of Europe (62.3% of the total) and America (26.5%) dominate. By age group, the largest increases were recorded among the population aged 16 to 64 (68.4%), followed by those under 16 (25.7%). The number of people over 65 only increased by 5.9%. <h5><strong>Galicia loses the lead</strong></h5> By autonomous community, data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEM) reveals that, for the first time in history, Galicia is no longer the Spanish region with the highest number of citizens living abroad, having been overtaken by the Community of Madrid, with 556,718 people compared to Galicia's 548,252. Madrid also shows the largest percentage increase, eight percent, with 41,072 new PERE registrations. The Galician diaspora decreased by 2,172 people in 2024. These data from Galicia confirm the downward trend of recent years, which is mainly due to the increase in the number of descendants of Galicians living abroad but born in their new destination country (2.42% more than on January 1, 2024). The regions of Madrid and Galicia are followed by Catalonia, with 406,679; Andalusia, with 339,736; the Canary Islands, with 202,454; Castile and León, 194,500; the Valencian Community, 175,457; Asturias, 148,728; and the Basque Country, with 108,406.
