Press Release 30/10/2024

POPULATION AND HOUSING CENSUS. POPULATION STRUCTURE. 01/01/2024

The Basque population grew by 11,262 people in 2024, offsetting the loss registered during the pandemic

The average age in 2024 was 45.9, almost 4 years older than 20 years earlier

On 1 January 2024, the population of the Basque Country stood at 2,208,007 people, an increase of 11,262 compared with 2023, according to Eustat data. This rise is added to the increase of 10,228 residents recorded on 1 January 2023, more than offsetting the drop in population in the two years of the pandemic, which represented 13,194 fewer people in 2021 and 2022. This growth was due exclusively to the migratory balance, which represented almost 21,000 more people, while net population growth – births minus deaths – fell by almost 8,900 people.

In absolute terms, the greatest population increase was in Bizkaia, with 6,018 more residents than in 2023; followed by Gipuzkoa, with a resident population of 722,824, 2,949 more people than the previous year; and lastly, Álava, where the increase was 2,295 inhabitants, rising to 335,146.

An analysis of a longer time period yields different results. Between 2004 and 2024, Álava's population increased by 14%, that is, there were 41,134 more residents. Gipuzkoa registered a greater increase in the number of people, 41,519, representing 6.1% in relative terms. As for Bizkaia, it added 30,340 inhabitants during this period, 2.7% of its population.

All three Basque provincial capitals saw their population increase between 2023 and 2024. Bilbao saw the greatest rise, with 1,924 more inhabitants, followed by Vitoria-Gasteiz with 1,874, and lastly San Sebastián, with 251 more people. Looking back to 2004, we can see that the population of Bilbao has fallen by just 673 people over the last 20 years (-0.2%) and that of San Sebastián has risen slightly, by 1,497 people (+0.8%). Meanwhile, the population of Vitoria-Gasteiz has increased by 14.1% over those two decades, from 220,871 to 251,974 inhabitants.

As for the other municipalities of the Basque Country, it should be noted that over the last year 166 of them regained population, while 76 lost residents. The municipalities that registered the greatest increase in population were, in order, Barakaldo (768 inhabitants), Irun (558 residents), Sestao (411 inhabitants) and Mondragon, with an increase of 250 inhabitants. Meanwhile, the municipality with the greatest decline in absolute terms was Hernani, with a loss of 197 inhabitants, followed by Getxo, which lost 124 residents, although the drop was significantly lower than in recent years (-0.2%). Samaniego, Arama, Ubide and Añana were the municipalities with the greatest percentage decrease, just above 5% in all four cases. This analysis does not include Galdakao, where the loss of 4,534 inhabitants was caused by the deannexation of Usansolo in late 2023.

Between 2004 and 2024, Getxo, Portugalete, Basauri and Sestao in the Gran Bilbao region were the municipalities that registered the greatest fall in population, with an overall loss of 14,330 people. Ondarroa, in Bizkaia, also registered a drop of over 1,000 inhabitants. By contrast, Leioa and Etxebarri grew by more than 4,000 residents in this period.

Focusing on regions, it was specifically Gran Bilbao that registered the greatest population growth over the past year, adding 4,480 inhabitants, followed by Llanada Alavesa, with 1,957, and Donostialdea, some distance behind with an extra 776. In the rest, it is worth noting that only 1 of the 20 regions lost population, albeit with just 8 people less.

Looking back to 2004, we find that Llanada Alavesa registered by far the greatest increase, more than 35,419 people, followed by Donostialdea, with an additional 15,454 inhabitants, and Plentzia-Mungia, gaining 12,326. Only one region has lost population over the last 20 years: Markina-Ondarroa with 758 people less.

The proportion of people aged 65 and over continues to increase in the Basque Country

The average age of the population of the Basque Country stood at 45.9 in 2024, 1.6 years older than in Spain as a whole. Compared to 2004, the average age increased by 4 years. The difference between the genders stands at 3 years, as men have an average age of 44.3 and women 47.3, because of the greater volume of female population of more advanced ages. The average age in the provinces reflected their age structure: In Álava the average age was almost one year lower than the average for the Basque Country (45); in Gipuzkoa it was close to, but just below, the Basque average (45.5); and it was higher in Bizkaia, standing at 46.4.

In 2024, the proportion of people aged 65 and over in the Basque Country was 24%, 0.5 points higher than the previous year and 3.6 points above Spain (20.4%). Only 3 autonomous regions had higher percentages: Asturias (28%), Castile and Leon (26.9%) and Galicia (26.6%). If we take gender into account, the proportion of women aged 65 or over was 26.5% compared to 21.2% of men.

82 municipalities exceeded the average percentage of the Basque Country, whilst 170 presented the same or a lower percentage; among the former were Bilbao, San Sebastián, Barakaldo and Getxo, which were home to 31.8% of the total population of the Basque Country.

In 2004, the percentage of the population aged over 65 was 18.4% and 154 municipalities had a percentage higher than the average. Furthermore, between 2004 and 2024, there were 76 municipalities in which the proportion of those aged over 65 decreased, although they are home to just 3.2% of the total population.

There was notable disparity between Basque municipalities in the age of the resident population and, more specifically, the percentage of people aged 65 and over, ranging from 8.8% in Irura to 37.9% in Harana/Valle de Arana.

Aside from the former, there were another 6 municipalities with percentages below 14%: Arakaldo, Irura, Astigarraga, Iruña de Oca, Orendain and Alegría-Dulantzi. The combined population of the 7 municipalities stood at 16,898 inhabitants. Meanwhile, in addition to Valle de Arana, there were 6 municipalities with a percentage above 30%: Ea, Sukarrieta, Elantxobe, Ereño, Añana and Lagrán. These seven places had a total of 2,440 residents.

Focusing on the regional level, there were two regions where the population aged over 65 exceeded 25% of the total: Montaña Alavesa (26.2%) and Markina-Ondarroa (25.7%). Meanwhile, the region with the lowest percentage was once again Plentzia-Mungia, standing at 19.4%.

If we look at older age groups, people aged 85 and above went from constituting 1.9% of the total population in 2004 to 4.1% of the total population in 2024, although this percentage was very unevenly distributed between men and women: 2.7% of the male population in the Basque Country were aged 85 or over, while this proportion rose to 5.4% among women. This process has been very dramatic for the centenarian population, with a rise in the number of centenarians from 262 in 2004 to 907 twenty years later, 86.8% of whom were women.

In the Basque Country, there was a ratio of 1.8 people aged 65 or more to every person under 16, exceeding the ratio for Spain as a whole, which is 1.4, but still far from the ratio in Asturias, which is 2.6.

By region, Montaña Alavesa and Gran Bilbao registered the highest proportion, with 2 or more people aged over 65 for each child under 16, while in Rioja Alavesa, Plentzia-Mungia and Urola Costa, there were 1.3.

At municipal level, 91 municipalities had a score equal to or higher than the average, with extreme cases such as Sukarrieta, Lagrán, Añana and Valle de Arana, with a ratio of more than 4 to 1. Conversely, it is worth highlighting Baliarrain, with over 3 children aged 0 to 15 for every person aged 65 or over, followed by Irura with 1.8, Arakaldo and Orendain, with 1.7, but it should be noted that these are municipalities with very small populations. In total, only 26 municipalities had at least one child under 16 for each person over 65.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel.: 945 01 75 62