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The Region of Murcia had the lowest growth in foreign population in the whole of Spain
For the last three years, the number of immigrants in Murcia has grown half as much as in the rest of Spain
The Region of Murcia has been the community that has registered the lowest increase in its foreign population between January 2022 and October 2024. Furthermore, the high growth of the native population has allowed Murcia to be among parts of Spain with the highest increase in population.
According to a report by the Foundation of Savings Banks (Funcas), in almost three years, the presence of immigrants has increased by 11.5% which is half of the national Spanish average. In Asturia and Galicia the rise has been dramatic and has reached a 40% increase.
The explanation for the disparity is that in Murcia there were almost 227,000 foreigners registered in 2022, representing 15% of the regional population. In the northern region,s howeve,r there had been much less immigration prior to 2022 and so now they have seen a dramatic rise.
Despite Murcia being the community with the lowest increase in the emigrant population, the Region occupies fifth place in total demographic growth, with an increase of 3.4%, in part because of the birth rates of locals in the Region. The local population has therefore grown by 2% in the Region of Murcia.
The schools within Murcia, however, have seen a large up-tick in the number of foreign students over the past number of years. The increase has been so large in fact that it places the region at the top of the entire country for foreign born children.
Only the Balearic Islands and Madrid surpass the Region of Murcia in national population growth. Both regions have just surpassed the 2% mark of growth in population. In large part, this growth is down to foreigners coming to the country.
Many regions across Spain have seen little to no increase in their population growth. Even rich communities such as the Basque Country have lost 0.4% of local inhabitants. Only the arrival of foreigners has kept their net number above 0.
In the report, Funcas states that the growth of the national population comes from people of “foreign nationality, which has contributed 1.2 million citizens (84% of total growth), while the population with Spanish nationality has increased by 232,000 people”
The foreign population of the country has gone from 11.6% of the total population of Spain at the beginning of the period considered, to representing 13.8% of the population.
Funcas claim that “This trend is significant as it has sustained the growth of the economy and job creation, especially in the sectors most affected by the shortage of labour.”
Many in Spain view this growth of the economy as useless, because it is supported by cheap labour that is found from outside of Spain. The labour shortages come as a result of bad pay and poor working conditions, and for many this is why Spanish people do not fill these positions.
The study also claims that, “40% of the jobs created between the first quarter of 2022 and the third quarter of 2024 have been filled by foreigners”, which proves the low level of the jobs that are being offered.
Funcas finally points out that the Spanish population stood at an all-time high of 48,946,035 citizens on October 1, after increasing by 1.5 million since January 1, 2022.
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Image: Murcia Today Archive
