Almería city sees highest growth while Níjar records province's largest migration slump
Latest figures reveal a positive migratory balance for Almería, though Níjar defies the provincial trend with 782 more departures than arrivals.
Almería has recorded a significant population boost with over 51,000 people moving to the province in 2024, despite a sharp downturn in Níjar.
New data from the Institute of Statistics and Cartography of Andalucía (IECA) shows Almería maintains a positive migratory balance of 8,680 people. The province now ranks third in the region for growth, behind only Malaga and Seville.
However, in the town of Níjar, according to the IECA data, in 2024 there were 782 more departures (3,821) than arrivals (3,039). This figure is ten times that of the second in this ranking, Arboleas, with a difference of 76 points.
In total, 32 municipalities in Almeria showed a negative migratory balance in 2024, although in most cases the difference between immigrants and emigrants was below 20.
With no movement, i.e. zero, only two localities were observed. Alboloduy and Bentarique had the same number of departures as arrivals, 35 and 19, respectively.
Almeria city saw the highest migratory balance in 2024, with the IECA data showing that 10,267 people moved to the city compared to the 7,414 who left, meaning a difference of 2,853.
Roquetas de Mar was the second town with the greatest movement, with a balance of 1,226 (8,701 immigrants and 7,475 emigrants). It was followed by Vera (708) and El Ejido (525), albeit with smaller numbers.
Origins and destinations
In Almería, the majority of migration is from and to other countries. Of the almost 52,000 immigrations registered in 2024, 34,917 came from other countries. The same happens with emigrations, since 34,917 of the nearly 43,300 cases refer to a foreign destination.
Although migration statistics are not limited to international mobility, they also take into account changes of residence within the country, the region, the province and the municipality itself. In this last area, more than 10,000 movements were recorded in 2024 in Almeria province. In more than 12,000 cases a move was made to another locality within the province.
On the other hand, the IECA indicates that there were 3,209 occasions in which people moved from other Andalusian provinces to Almeria compared to 2,270 departures to other parts of Andalucía. As for movements within Spain, there is evidence of more than 6,400, of which 3,619 are immigrations and 2,817 are emigrations.
