The migratory dynamism and the weakness of the natural movement define the demographic evolution of Barcelona which, as of January 1, 2023, registered a total of 1,660,435 registered residents, 1.2% more than in 2022, after two years marked by the setbacks due to the covid pandemic. The study, prepared by the City Hall’s Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination based on the analysis of the register, points out that during 2022 it can be confirmed “a negative natural balance of 4,276 people and a positive migratory and administrative balance of 26,634, the most high of the last two decades. Thus, the contribution to population growth is due exclusively to migration.
During 2022, the city recorded 11,295 births, 15.2% less than the average for the 2010-2020 period and the lowest since before 1900, with the exception of 1939, at the end of the civil war, when only 8,922 came to the world. children. Fertility continues the downward trend, standing at an average of 0.96 children per woman. As in Spain and Europe as a whole, Barcelona’s ISF (Synthetic Fertility Index) remains well below the population replacement level, which is 2.1 children for each citizen.
The evolution of the birth rate (births registered in the register per thousand inhabitants) enters a field of minimums, specifically at 6.9%, one tenth less than in 2021. By nationality, that of the Spanish is lower, 6.4%, compared to 8.6% of foreigners.
“This is a persistent phenomenon that is explained by the conjunction of factors linked to the sociodemographic structure of the last decades, the decrease in the number of women of childbearing age, the delay in maternity and the increase in those who finish their fertile period without descendants”, indicates the report, directed by María Jesús Calvo, the head of the Department of Statistics and Municipal Data Dissemination.
In 2022 there were 15,571 deaths, 2.3% less than the average for the period 2000-2019. Life expectancy in 2020, the last year with available data, was 83.5 years (86.1 for women and 80.5 for men), compared to 84.9 in 2019, before the covid . On the other hand, the average age in the city is 44.1 years and women represent 52.4% of all those registered.
María Jesús Calvo explains that the number of residents who were not born in Barcelona already exceeds that of natives, who have dropped to 47.6% of the total, the lowest percentage in recent history. From 2006 to 2019 it ranged between 51 and 52%. The group of those who came to the world abroad is the one that shows the greatest dynamism, since for the first time it exceeds the symbolic barrier of 30%, reaching 31.3% (519,066 people), almost ten points more than ten years ago. Of this group, close to 29% have Spanish nationality.
Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Pakistan, Ecuador, Italy and Morocco make the list of top countries of origin, all with more than 20,000 residents.
As of January 1, 2023, there were 391,703 citizens of foreign nationality registered on the register, 7.8% more, “a maximum in the recent history of Barcelona both in absolute and relative terms, 23.6% of the total”. They are men and women from other countries who have settled in the Catalan capital, which determine population growth, since Spaniards observe a downward trend of 0.6%.It was in the first decade of the 21st century when a relevant change was detected in the composition of the population, which went from having 4.9% foreigners in 2001 to the current 23.6% of 177 different nationalities.The Raval neighborhood is the one with the most, 137, followed by Gràcia, with 134.
People from the European Union make up 27.3% of foreigners, a similar percentage to 2021; On the contrary, non-EU citizens experience an increase of almost 11% and represent 72.7%.
The level of training has improved; the inhabitants of more than 16 years with a university degree or with a higher level training cycle has gone from 22.6%, in 2009, to 35.5%. In the case of foreigners, this percentage exceeds 43%, but if only those from the European Union are considered it reaches 65%.
Calvo points out that by continent, for the first time, Americans outnumber Europeans: 143,000 compared to 138,000. Italian is the first nationality followed by Colombian, Pakistani, Chinese and French.
The evolution of the composition of the 668,790 households in the city deserves a separate chapter, with an average of 2.48 people per household. Currently, 32% are unipersonal, 2% more than in the previous year; while those made up of two people represent 29.4%; those of three, 18%, and those of four, 13%. Of the 213,839 registered in homes with a single resident, almost 61% live in a woman and in the rest a man “The more developed the welfare state, the more chances there are of living alone and when the incorporation of women into the market her workload is greater, she is less dependent on the man and her choice to live alone is more manifested”, the authors of the report remark. Another factor that explains these figures is the increase in life expectancy and the emergence of telecommunications. It should be noted that there are no minors in around 78% of the homes.
One of the most remarkable conclusions, in Calvo’s opinion, is the aforementioned positive migratory balance of 26,634 citizens, after the decline in 2021 due to the covid pandemic. People from other countries thus acquire the leading role in the demographic evolution of the city.
