Marbella population 2025: 90% of new residents are foreigners

Marbella population growth is being driven almost entirely by foreign migration, with more than nine out of ten new residents arriving from outside Spain.

Official town hall figures for 2025 show that of the 6,830 new inhabitants registered on the padrón, only 504 were Spanish.

The influx has pushed the town’s total population to 173,420, with foreign nationals now accounting for 36.45 per cent of all residents.

While there were 109,710 Spanish residents at the start of 2025, a year later that number had only risen to 110,214, just 504 more.

Meanwhile, the foreign population rose by 6,326 to reach 63,206, according to data from Marbella town hall.

These data snapshots taken at the beginning and end of 2025 provide an interesting comparison, with Colombians being the nationality with the largest increase in 2025 out of the 156 nationalities recorded in the municipal census.

There are 831 more Colombians living in Marbella than a year ago, making this nationality the fourth largest foreign nationality in the population (5,209 inhabitants in total).

The second largest increase was among people of Moroccan origin, an increase of 452 people, consolidating this nationality as the largest foreign one after Spanish, with a total of 6,133 people.

International conflicts also appear to be reflected in the town's population register ('padrón'). Ukrainians now represent the third largest population increase in Marbella, with 372 more people, making the Russian-invaded country the place of origin for 5,226 Marbella residents (and also the third largest group of foreign nationals).

Russians have also grown significantly: 171 more people for a total of 3,419, making Russia the fifth most common non-Spanish nationality on the census.

Countries on the European continent and the former Soviet republics are responsible for nearly 40 per cent of the population growth, some 2,700 more inhabitants at the end of 2025 compared to 1 January 2025. The increase recorded by the British, the second largest foreign nationality, is particularly noteworthy, rising from 5,306 to 5,838 inhabitants (up 342).

Furthermore, another six nationalities from the EU saw healthy growth in their headcounts: the list is headed by the Swedes (258 more to 2,033 in total), Italians (240 to 2,844), Germans (214 to 2,058), then the French (185), Romanians (125) and Dutch (118 more inhabitants).

Nearly tipping into three-digit growth are the Poles and the Irish, with 97 and 94 more inhabitants respectively.

Outside European borders, the increase in Paraguayans (340) and Filipinos (339) is most notable. They are the seventh and eighth largest foreign nationalities registered in the municipality, with 2,735 and 2,474 residents respectively. Venezuelans also saw a significant increase of 264 more people to a new total of 1,743.

The next largest increase applies to US citizens, with164 more, brings the US total registered in Marbella to 725, a spectacular growth of 29.23 per cent in just one year. Canadians also grew considerably (31 more), reaching 223 people, thus bringing the total number of residents from both North American countries close to 1,000.

Besides the aforementioned nationalities, only Argentina saw a three-digit increase, 110 more inhabitants, bringing the total number of Marbella residents originating from this country to 1,553.

Of the 156 nationalities represented in the census, 48 have fewer than ten residents, including six stateless persons.