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The population in Malaga province on 1 April 2025 was 1,789,103 inhabitants, which represents, although minimal, decrease of 0.035%. In absolute terms, the province had 639 fewer people on that date. These data are part of the population survey published by Spain's INE national institute of statistics on Thursday.
The fall in the number of Malaga residents recorded between January and March is not a very important figure, but it does become more significant if we take into account that this is the first drop in population that has taken place in the province since the first publication of these quarterly statistics back in 2021. Previously, calculations were made every six months. If we take that into account as well, the beginning of 2025 marks the first loss of population since 2018, when the province lost 921 inhabitants during the first half of the year, going from 1,650,068 to 1,649,147 inhabitants.
By the end of 2024, Malaga's population growth had already faltered: in the last quarter of last year, the province was barely able to gain 637 inhabitants, compared to the thousands counted in each of the preceding quarters. In the third quarter of 2024, the gain was more than 4,800 residents; in the second, more than 3,300; and in the first, more than 5,600. In 2023 as a whole, 22,000 new residents were registered.
What has happened in the first quarter of 2025, is that the drop in the local population has not been offset by gains of the foreign population. The number of Malaga residents born in Spain was 611 fewer on 1 April than on 1 January, falling from 1,360,782 to 1,360,171 between the two dates. At the same time, the number of inhabitants from other countries fell by 28, although they remained at around 428,300.
This was not the case in the immediately preceding periods. In the last quarter of 2024, the drop of 231 in the local population had been offset by the growth of 868 in the number of residents born in other countries. Even more striking was the issue in the third quarter of last year, when both the number of Spanish-born (159) and foreign-born (4,666) inhabitants grew.
The situation in the country as a whole is slightly different. Spain's population in the first quarter of this year rose by 75,865, or 0.15%, to 49.135 million, setting a new record. The gain of 118,030 foreign-born inhabitants has compensated for the loss of 42,165 locals.
Malaga is neither the only province nor the one that has lost the most population in the first quarter of the year, according to the provisional data (which become definitive after twelve months) released by the INE on Thursday. Cordoba has lost the most people in proportion to its population: no less than 1,579, going from almost 771,000 inhabitants to 769,398. This was followed by two provinces in Castilla y León - Salamanca (-524) and Zamora (-230). Among the Andalusian provinces, the number of inhabitants also fell in Jaén (-492, to 617,714) and Huelva (-82, to 536,766).
In contrast, Seville has gained 215 inhabitants, reaching 1,972,505 inhabitants, because the increase in the number of inhabitants born in other countries (1,935 people) compensates for the loss of local residents (-1,720).
In relative terms, Alicante is the province that has registered the greatest population growth, with an increase of almost 0.5%, which translates into 9,571 more inhabitants, to 2,038,784. Madrid is next, with almost 32,000 more inhabitants, to over 7.15 million. In third place is Guadalajara, with an increase of 0.43% or 1,218 more inhabitants.
In Andalucía, the greatest growth corresponds to Almeria, with an increase of 0.4%, which in absolute terms is more than 3,000 people, to a total of 773,384 inhabitants. Cadiz (896, 0.07%) and Granada (493, 0.05%) also gained inhabitants.
Meanwhile, Andalucía has gained 1,841 inhabitants in the last three months because the loss of 5,820 Spanish-born residents has been offset by the gain of 7,661 foreign inhabitants.
In any case, Malaga continues to gain population if we compare the figure for 1 April 2025 with the same date in 2024. In one year, the number of residents has grown by 8,134 people, thanks to the fact that the number of inhabitants of foreign origin has increased by 8,522, which has compensated for the loss of 388 locals.
8,134 new inhabitants
were registered in the province of Malaga over the last year, making it the eleventh most populated province in the last twelve months and the sixth most populated in the country
Population in the country as a whole has increased by about 430,000 in the last twelve months, also because the number of foreign-born residents has increased by more than 521,000, which has more than offset the decrease of about 91,500 in the number of native-born residents.
In relative terms, the population of Malaga has increased by 0.45% in the last year, below the 0.88% recorded at the national level. Guadalajara and Alicante, with increases of close to 2%, top the ranking, followed by Castellón, Madrid and Valencia. At the other extreme, Cordoba, where the population has fallen by 0.55%, is in the worst position in terms of absolute loss of residents, with 4,168 fewer inhabitants in the last twelve months.
In absolute terms, the greatest population growth was recorded in Madrid, with nearly 117,500 more residents, and Barcelona, which gained 60,000 new inhabitants, as well as Valencia and Alicante, with 43,598 and 37,869 more residents, respectively.
Despite the setback suffered in the last quarter, Malaga is still the 11th province that has gained the most population between April 2024 and the same month in 2025. It remains in the sixth position in Spain among the most populated province in the country: Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante and Seville.
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