Barcelona's population, continuing the trend of previous years, continues to grow at a moderate pace. Pending the latest official data, the Catalan capital would have closed 2024 with the highest number of inhabitants in the last 40 years. According to the latest reading of the municipal register, made public last Tuesday, a total of 1,718,149 people were registered in the city as of September 1st of last year.
One has to go back to the first half of the 1980s to find a higher figure than the current one. To date, the historical record population of Barcelona is marked by the 1981 census, with just over 1,752,000 inhabitants. If the pace of growth of the last two years is maintained, that mark could be surpassed before 2027. Despite driving out a few thousand residents due to housing prices, Barcelona is attracting all kinds of immigration, not only from less developed countries. This forecast of future growth is also influenced by the new residential areas planned for the coming years in neighborhoods such as Marina del Prat Vermell or around the Sagrera station.
In one year, the number of registered residents in Barcelona increased by 17,254
In one year, from September 1, 2023, to September 1, 2024 – the latest municipal census data provided by the City Council – the population of Barcelona has increased by 17,254 people. All ten districts of the city have experienced growth during this period. The district that has seen the highest increase – slightly over 3,000 people – is Sants-Montjuïc, mainly as a result of the positive migration flows in three of its neighborhoods: La Marina del Port, La Marina del Prat Vermell, and Poble Sec.
Districts like Nou Barris, Sant Martí, and Horta-Guinardó also stand out for their significant year-on-year population increases - with more than 2,000 additional residents. More moderate growth is observed in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi (769 more registered residents in a year) and in the district with the lowest population in the city, Les Corts, which gained 454 residents between September 2023 and the same month in 2024.
Of the 73 neighborhoods into which Barcelona is divided for statistical purposes, only seven saw a reduction in population during the twelve-month period analyzed. In all cases, these losses were minimal. These neighborhoods are l’Antiga Esquerra de l’Eixample (76 fewer registered residents at the beginning of September 2024 compared to a year ago), the Gothic Quarter and Les Tres Torres (-62), Sant Genís dels Agudells (-29), Barceloneta (-18), Vallbona (-17), and Vila Olímpica del Poblenou (-10).
On the other hand, half a dozen neighborhoods grew by more than 500 inhabitants during that time. The one with the highest increase was El Raval, with 1,483 more registered residents, followed by La Marina del Port (+771), Poble Sec (+726), La Marina del Prat Vermell (+673), Sant Gervasi-Galvany (+597), and El Guinardó (+550). It is worth mentioning that in 2023, all 73 neighborhoods of Barcelona saw an increase in their registered population. La Marina del Prat Vermell saw the most significant increase, and it is repeating in 2024 as one of the territories with the highest growth. It's important to note that this neighborhood in the district of Sants-Montjuïc still has a small population and is undergoing a major urban transformation process that still has a long way to go.
Barcelona, like many other municipalities, experienced a decline in population during the pandemic biennium (2020-2021)
The division of the city into neighborhoods resulted in significant population differences between them. As of September 1st of last year, four neighborhoods had over 50,000 inhabitants: Sant Andreu (58,848), Nova Esquerra de l'Eixample (58,786), Sagrada Família (53,196), and Vila de Gràcia (51,465). On the other hand, five neighborhoods had fewer than 3,000 registered residents: la Clota (1,035), Vallbona (1,420), Can Peguera (2,185), Marina del Prat Vermell (2,650), and Baró de Viver (2,667).
Barcelona, like many other municipalities, experienced a decline in population during the pandemic biennium (2020-2021) from which it has more than recovered in the following years, returning to the dynamics of the pre-Covid period. While detailed data for the entire year 2024 are still pending, it is evident that in the recently concluded year, the positive migration balance has once again more than compensated for the negative natural population growth associated with a steadily declining fertility rate.
In 2024, it will have been, without a doubt, the sixth consecutive year in which the number of registered residents in Barcelona who were not born in this city is higher than the number of people born in the Catalan capital. Additionally, in 2023, the group of foreign-born residents exceeded the 30% threshold for the first time in history. Currently, one out of every three Barcelonans was born outside of Spain, regardless of whether they have Spanish nationality or not.
The population growth experienced by Barcelona as a result of the intense migratory flow means that the projections made a few years ago, which mainly took into account the vegetative evolution based on birth and death forecasts, are about to be surpassed much sooner than expected.
