Barcelona’s population declines by 1.2% in a year and records the lowest birth rate since the Civil War
Author: Pedro Ruiz
Source: elnacional.net

Barcelona is losing inhabitants. For the second consecutive year, the capital of Catalonia has recorded a decrease in the registered population, as revealed this Saturday by the Municipal Data Office of the Barcelona City Council. Specifically, as of January 1, 2022, there are 1,639,981 people on the municipal register, which translates to 1.2% less than in 2021. In absolute numbers, there are 16,000 fewer registered citizens than the previous year. The institution responsible for providing these statistics attributes this population decline to the mortality caused by COVID-19, as well as migration balance. Simultaneously, the birth rate recorded this year is the lowest since 1939, during the Civil War. In 2021, 11,510 Barcelonians were born, bringing the birth rate down to 7 per thousand.

Despite this population decline, the Barcelona Municipal Data Office details that this is one of the highest numbers of registered citizens in the city in the past three decades. Regarding the characteristics of this population, the average age has reached historical highs: it breaks the record and rises to 44.2 years. Furthermore, the number of centenarians living in the Catalan capital continues to rise and is approaching a thousand: while in 2021 there were 864, this year there are 931, and of these, 83% are women.

In statements gathered by the agencies, Maria Jesús Calvo, head of the Department of Statistics and Dissemination of the Municipal Data Office, specified that Barcelona has “an age pyramid typical of developed societies, with increasingly smaller and receding bases.” If we look at the percentage figures, we find that the number of citizens under 15 living in Barcelona is 12.7%, and the group of people over 65 represents 21.3% of the total population.

The education level of the population increases
The data published by the Barcelona City Council indicate that more and more registered people have a level of education equivalent to a university degree or higher. In fact, among the population aged 16 or older, 36% of women reach this level, while in the case of men, the percentage is slightly lower, at 33.1%. Returning to birth rates, another factor that is consolidating is that there are more people registered in Barcelona who were not born in the city than those who were. This is the third year this has happened: those born in the city account for 48.8%, while the rest are born elsewhere. Among the children born in Barcelona, the names that were most prominent in 2021 are Sofía, Emma, Martina, Olivia, Júlia, Mia, and Ona for girls; Pol, Mateo, Marc, Bruno, Eric, Leo, Pau, Àlex, Nil, and Jan for boys. Finally, 176 nationalities are represented in the city of Barcelona, but this is three less than in 2021.