Press Release 21/10/2013
The migratory balance for the Basque Country was positive in 2012, although it fell by 34%
Thirteen years of positive balances and, for the first time in 24 years, the migratory balance with the other Autonomous Regions exceeds the foreign migratory balance
In 2012 the migratory balance for the Basque Country was positive once again, with 9,949 more people arriving than leaving, according to EUSTAT data. It is the thirteenth consecutive year in which a positive migratory balance was posted for the Basque Country, although it fell by 34% with respect to 2011, from 14,986 to 9,949 people.
By provinces, Bizkaia, which gained 4,867 people, had the highest migratory balance in absolute figures, although it was down 42% compared to 2011. Álava gained 1,773 people and saw its balance fall by 52% with respect to the previous year. Gipuzkoa, with 3.309 individuals, was the only province to increase its balance, by 12% with respect to the previous year. By capitals, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Bilbao had positive balances of 1,705 and 1,390 people, respectively, whilst Donostia-San Sebastián posted a slightly negative balance of 93 people.
Graph 1.- Evolution of the migratory balance by Province
With regard to the movements that occur between the Basque Country and the other Autonomous Regions, there was a positive balance of 5,266 people in 2012; that is there were more immigrations to the Basque Country from other Autonomous Regions than emigrations from it. It is also the first year, since Eustat started publishing these statistics, in which this balance exceeds the balance with foreign countries, which was 4,683, as the number of people of foreign origin fell by 46% with respect to 2011.
8.9% of the Basque population changed their place of residence in 2012, with the mobility on 74% of the occasions being within the Basque Country, whilst in the other cases the mobility was extra-community.
In total, 194,969 changes of normal places of residency were recorded in the Basque Country, and from this figure, 96,092 were changes of address within the same municipality. Intra-community mobility, in other words, where the origin and destination are different municipalities of the Basque Country, stood at 48,608 movements. There were also 30,109 extra-community or external immigrations, which are those that have their origin outside the Autonomous Region and where the destination is the Basque Country. Of these immigrations, 8,957 came from abroad. Finally, there were 20,160 cases of external or extra-community emigration, in other words, residential variations originating in a municipality of the Autonomous Region and with the destination outside it, 4,274 of which were to destinations abroad; the latter increased by 6% with respect to 2011.
Basque geographical mobility is on a much smaller scale if compared to the other Autonomous Regions
In 2012 external or extra-community geographical mobility, which involved 23 per thousand inhabitants of the Basque Country (Álava 26.9‰, Bizkaia 23.1‰ and Gipuzkoa 21.1‰), was relatively small if compared to the other autonomous regions, where 37 per thousand inhabitants moved on average.
With the exception of the Autonomous Region of Extremadura, the other Autonomous Regions contributed more population to the Basque Country than they received from it.
The Autonomous Regions that attracted the emigrants from the Basque Country were as follows, in order: Madrid, Castilla y León, Cantabria, Catalonia, Navarra and Andalusia. Between them they received 63% of the people who left our Region for other Autonomous Regions of the State.
In 2012 immigrations of foreign nationals stood at 14,883 individuals, but this is 5,890 (-29%) less than the previous year. 7,300 of these came to the Basque Country from other Autonomous Regions, especially from Catalonia, Madrid, Comunidad Valenciana, Andalusia and Castilla y León. The other 7,583 foreign immigrants came directly from abroad (32% less than in 2011).
Emigrations of foreign nationals rose to 6,349. Almost a third of those who abandoned our Region were foreign nationals: specifically 31% of all emigrants. The destination for 63% of them was another other Autonomous Region of Spain.
The average age of the emigrants (35.1 years old) was higher than that of the immigrants (32.8 years old). If the gender variable of the population in question is taken into account, both for immigration and emigration, the percentage of men is slightly higher than that of women, with 52% men and 48% women.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tlf: 945 01 75 62
Online press releases about migratory movements in the Basque Country
Databank on migratory movements in the Basque Country