Press release 18/09/2018
MIGRATORY MOVEMENTS STATISTICS. 2017
The average age of the emigrants (36.4 years old) was higher than that of the immigrants (33.1 years old)
In 2017 the Basque Country maintained a positive migratory balance. To be precise, 10,725 more people came than left, a higher figure than the 8,871 in 2016, according to Eustat data.
By province, Bizkaia, which gained 5,461 people, recorded a higher migratory balance in absolute figures; Gipuzkoa had a positive balance of 2,915 people and Álava gained 2,349 people due to external migration. The municipality of Bilbao had a migratory balance of 2,533 people, Vitoria-Gasteiz of 2,153 and San Sebastián of 1,007 people.
In relation to the movements that occur between the Basque Country and the other Autonomous Communities, there was a positive balance of 720 people in 2017, a little over a third more than the balance produced in 2016. This figure was divided fairly equally between Spanish nationals (344) and foreign nationals (376), whereas in previous years there was a higher proportion of the latter.
The balance with foreign countries was positive, by 10,005 people, i.e. there were more cases of immigration to the Basque Country from abroad registered than of emigration to foreign countries, which accounted for 93% of the total balance. In this case, the nationality variable played an important role: the balance of Spanish nationals in foreign countries was negative by 251, whilst that of other nationalities was positive by 10,256.
Emigration rates continued to be relatively low
In 2017 external or extra-community geographical mobility involved 34 per thousand inhabitants of the Basque Country and was 6 points below the other Spanish Autonomous Communities as a whole, where 40 inhabitants per thousand moved on average. By provinces, Álava reached 38.8‰, Gipuzkoa stood at 33.5‰ and Bizkaia at 32.1‰.
With the exception of the Autonomous Communities of Catalonia, Madrid, Navarra, the Balearics and Galicia, 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 order of importance, Castilla y León, Madrid, Andalusia, Cantabria, Cataluña and Navarra.
The Autonomous Communities that attracted the emigrants from the Basque Country were as follows, in order: Madrid, Castilla y León, Catalonia, Cantabria, Navarra and Andalusia. Between these six, they received 65% of the people who left the Basque Country for other Autonomous Communities.
The average age of the emigrants (36.4 years old) was higher than that of the immigrants (33.1 years old). 51% of immigrations and 49% 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 58% of immigrants and 44% of emigrants were foreign nationals
The immigration of foreign nationals was registered at 24,297 in 2017, that is, 58%. Of these 5,620 came from other Autonomous Communities, primarily from Madrid, Catalonia, Andalusia and Comunidad Valenciana, and another 18,677 came directly from abroad.
The emigration of foreign nationals rose to 13,665, which is 44% of emigrants. The destination for 62% of them was abroad. Therefore, the balance of foreign nationals was positive by 10,632.
67% of the changes of residence among the Basque population occurred within the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country itself
10.2% of the Basque population changed their place of residence in 2017, 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 2016.
In total, 221,506 changes of normal places of residence were recorded in the Basque Country. Of these, 98,140 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 50,369 movements.
There were also 41,861 cases of extra-community or external immigration, which are those where the destination is the Basque Country and the origin is outside it. Of these cases, 21,873 came from abroad.
Finally, there were 31,136 cases of external or extra-community emigration, in other words, residential variations originating in a municipality of the Basque Country and with the destination outside it, 11,868 of which were to destinations abroad; meaning an increase of 2.4% with respect to the 2016 figures.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel: 945 01 75 62