The number of foreign residents in Spain stands at 4,925,089

According to the Statistics on Foreign Residents in Spain at 31 December 2014 drawn up by the Permanent Watchdog on Immigration (Spanish acronym: OPI) of the Secretariat-General of Immigration and Emigration, the number of foreign citizens with a valid certificate of registration or residency card stands at 4,925,089.

Of the total number of foreign residents, 2,773,707 correspond to the EU free movement regime (EU citizens and relatives thereof with citizenship of non-EU countries) - i.e. 56.32% of the total - and 2,151,382 correspond to the general regime - i.e. 43.68%.

The number of foreign citizens fell by 18,538 in 2014 (-0.37%), due to a fall of 101,068 under the general regime and an increase of 82,530 under the EU free movement regime.

Over the course of the year, approximately 180,000 foreign citizens under the general regime were granted Spanish nationality - this being one of the main reasons for the decrease under said regime.

The largest numbers of foreign citizens residing in Spain are citizens of Romania (953,183), Morocco (770,735) and the United Kingdom (275,817). The largest increases in 2014 were posted by foreign citizens from Italy (6.09%), the United Kingdom (3.87%) and Romania (2.69%).

The largest decreases were posted by those from Ecuador (-13.94%), Colombia (-13.81%) and Bolivia (-12.27%), mainly due to citizens from these countries being granted Spanish nationality.

Catalonia (1,085,523), the Region of Madrid (798,187), Andalusia (676,613) and the Region of Valencia (660,194) are home to a total of 3,220,517 foreign citizens, i.e. 65.47% of the total number of foreign citizens with a valid certificate of registration or residency card. In contrast, the autonomous regions with the fewest foreign citizens are Cantabria, the Principality of Asturias, La Rioja and Extremadura.

The number of foreign citizens under the EU free movement regime stands at 2,773,707, i.e. 56.32% of the total, which represents a year-on-year increase of 82,530 (3.07%).

The number of EU citizens at 31 December 2014 stood at 2,403,127, with 370,580 relatives with citizenship of non-EU countries.

Romania is the country with the highest number of residents in Spain, a total of 953,183. This is followed by the United Kingdom (275,817) and Italy (217,524).

The number of foreign residents under the general regime stands at 2,151,382, 43.68% of the total. This figure represents a year-on-year decrease of 101,068 or -4.49%.

Morocco is the country with the highest number of residents in Spain under this regime, with a total of 734,297. This is followed by China (187,390) and Ecuador (172,577).