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Press Release 05/12/2016

MUNICIPAL INHABITANTS STATISTICS 1 JANUARY 2016

Nationals of Latin American countries are the most numerous amongst foreign residents of the Basque Country

The number of foreign nationals is close to 150,000 people

Foreign residents of the Basque Country amount to 149,348 people, 6.9% of the total population on 1 January 2016, according to data prepared by EUSTAT. Nationals of Latin American countries made up 36% of foreign residents, whilst in Spain they hardly exceeded 23%. The countries with the most representation in this group, all from South America, were Bolivia, Colombia, Nicaragua and Paraguay, making up 18.7% of the total number of foreign residents, and 51.9% of the Latin American residents.

In contrast, European residents in the Basque Country made up 26.9% compared to 45.5% in Spain. Romanians stand out in this group, who account for almost 12% of foreign nationals and 44.1% of Europeans, almost 10 percentage points higher than in Spain. In second place are the Portuguese, albeit at some distance to Romanians, making up 17% of European residents of the Basque Country.

Graph 1: Foreigners by the continent of their nationality (%)
Source: Eustat. Municipal statistics on inhabitants. 1 January 2016

Africans in the Basque Country account for 28% compared with 22.7% in Spain, half of them Moroccan (49%). The second most significant African nationality in the Basque Country was Algerian, with 14.2%.

Then come Chinese and Pakistani people, with 7% being noteworthy as they are almost the only Asian countries, as they account for 79% of Asian residents.

The distribution of nationalities by continents was different in the three provinces. In Álava, Africans were the majority group, and Latin Americans were the majority group in Bizkaia, with both groups exceeding 40%. In Gipuzkoa, there were some proportions amongst Europeans and Latin American that were more alike, though the proportion of Latin Americans was greater.

In Bizkaia, Bolivians and Colombians made up 39.5% of residents of Latin American nationality, whereas the distribution in Gipuzkoa was more disparate. In Álava fewer than 27% of residents had Latin American nationality, of which over a quarter were Colombians.

The notable French presence amongst residents of Gipuzkoa has caused the weighting of European nationals to be greater there than in other provinces. Romanians made up the majority of Europeans in Bizkaia, at over 57%, whilst in Álava and Gipuzkoa the proportion is significantly lower, with 29.5% and 33.9% respectively.

In Gipuzkoa, residents with nationality of African countries had the lowest proportion of the three provinces and more than half of them, 58%, were Moroccan. In Álava and in Bizkaia, Moroccans also accounted for the majority of Africans, although they did not reach the level in Gipuzkoa (47% and 44.3%, respectively). The next most significant nationalities in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa are Algerian and Senegalese, whilst in Álava Nigerians are third.

The Chinese had a significant presence in Bizkaia, at 56.9% of Asians; followed by Pakistanis, at 19%; whilst in Gipuzkoa and Álava Pakistanis had the highest percentage, especially in Álava where they reached 60.3% of Asian residents.

On 1 January 2016, the population born abroad residing in the Autonomous Community was 190,354 and accounted for 8.8% of the total population, far from the proportion for Spain which was 13.1%. On this point, the Basque Country was aligned with Extremadura, Asturias, Galicia and Castilla y León, where the population born abroad did not exceed 8%.

Of the 57 municipalities that have a proportion of people born abroad greater than that of the Basque Country as a whole, 19 are in Álava and, of those, 17 exceed 10%, the majority being from the region of Rioja Alavesa. The four municipalities with the highest levels are Navaridas, which was over 28%, Berriatua (14.6%), Ordizia (14.2%) and Markina-Xemein (13.2%).

On the other hand, there are five municipalities that have practically no resident population born abroad, at under 2%. Four are in Gipuzkoa (Orexa, Elduain, Aduna and Gaztelu), in the region of Tolosa, and one is in Álava (Harana/Valle de Arana). These are municipalities with low populations, with Aduna, being the largest, only having 465 residents.

The three provincial capitals had percentages of the population born abroad higher than that of the Basque Country as a whole, with the highest proportion being in Vitoria-Gasteiz, where it stood at 11.8%; in Bilbao it stood at 10.4% and in San Sebastián it reached 9.8% of the total population.