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Press release 20/09/2017

MIGRATORY MOVEMENTS STATISTICS. 2016

The migratory balance contributed 8,871 people to the population of the Basque Country in 2016

The three provinces and the three capitals had positive migratory balances

In 2016 a positive migratory balance was again recorded in the Basque Country. To be precise, 8,871 more people came than left, a slightly lower figure than the 3,362 in 2015, according to Eustat data.

By province, Bizkaia, which gained 4,405 people, recorded a higher migratory balance in absolute figures; Gipuzkoa had a positive balance of 2,787 people and Álava gained 1,679 people. As for the three capitals, they all had positive balances: in Bilbao it was 1,524 people, in Vitoria-Gasteiz 1,571 and in San Sebastián 997 people.

With regards to movements between the Basque Country and the other Autonomous Communities, in 2016 the positive trend that started in 2008 continued, with a positive balance of 1,974 people. However, nationality produces different trends: if we take into account foreign nationals the migratory balance was positive by 1,177 people; on the other hand, if we refer to Spanish nationals,, the migratory balance was positive by 797 people.

The balance with foreign countries was positive, by 6,897 people, i.e. there were more cases of immigration to the Basque Country from abroad registered than of emigration to foreign countries. In this case, the nationality variable played an important role: the balance of Spanish nationals in foreign countries was negative by 796, whilst that of other nationalities was positive by 7,693.

Emigration rates continued to be relatively low

In 2016 external or extra-community geographical mobility involved 33 per thousand inhabitants of the Basque Country and was 4 points below the other Spanish Autonomous Communities, where 37 inhabitants per thousand moved on average. By provinces, Álava reached 38.2‰, Gipuzkoa stood at 32.2‰ and Bizkaia at 31.7‰.

With the exception of the Autonomous Communities of Catalonia, Madrid, La Rioja, Navarra and the Balearics, with which the Basque Country maintained a negative migratory balance, the others contributed more population to the Basque Country than they received from it, so the migratory balance was positive.

The Communities that contributed the most immigrants were, in first place, Castilla y León, followed by Madrid, Cantabria, Catalonia, Andalusia and Comunidad Valenciana.

The Autonomous Communities that attracted the emigrants from the Basque Country were as follows, in order: Madrid, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Cantabria, Andalusia and Navarra. Between the six, they received 40% of the people who left this Community for other Autonomous Communities.

The average age of the emigrants (36.1 years old) was slightly higher than that of the immigrants (33.3 years old). 57% of immigrations and 54% of emigrations were by people in the 21-40 age group.

If gender is taken into account, 51% of immigrants were men and 49% women, whilst the difference between the sexes was higher in the case of emigrants: 54% men and 46% women.

Almost 56% of immigrants and 44% of emigrants were foreign nationals

The immigration of foreign nationals was registered at 22,351 in 2016. More than half of those who came to this Community, 56% to be precise, were foreign nationals. Of these 6,602 came from other Autonomous Communities, primarily from Catalonia, Madrid, Andalusia, Comunidad Valenciana and Castilla y León, and another 16,149 came directly from abroad.

The emigration of foreign nationals rose to 13,681, which is 44% of emigrants. The destination for 61% of them was abroad. Therefore, the balance of foreign nationals was positive by 8,670.

Almost 70% of the changes of residence among the Basque population occurred within the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country itself

9.9% of the Basque population changed their place of residence in 2016, with the mobility on 67% of the occasions being within the Basque Country, whilst in the other cases the mobility was extra-community. These figures are almost identical to those from 2015.

In total, 217,064 changes of normal places of residence were recorded in the Basque Country. Of these, 96,478 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, increased to 49,205 movements.

There were also 40,126 cases of extra-community or external immigration, which are those that have their origin outside the Autonomous Community and where the destination is the Basque Country. Of these cases, 19,060 came from abroad.

Finally, there were 31,255 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, 12,163 of which were to destinations abroad; meaning an increase of 1.4% with respect to the 2015 figures.