Spain's National Institute of Statistics (INE) has announced that the country's population has exceeded 49 million for the first time, a figure driven absolutely by immigration.

In the last quarter of 2024, Spain added over 115 new residents, bringing the total number of residents to just over 49 million, Anadolu reports.

All of this growth was thanks to immigrants, who now make up roughly a fifth of Spain's total population. The number of foreign-born residents also increased by over 136, while the Spanish-born population fell by over 20.500.

The latest data from the INE institute shows that the birth rate in Spain in 2023 shrank to a record low of 1,12 children per woman. In the last quarter of 2024, around 75 percent of immigrants came from three countries, namely Colombia, Venezuela and Morocco.

Despite a low birth rate in recent years, since 1971 Spain's population has grown by around 15 million.