2 Summary of results

• According to the data as of 1 January 2026, the decline in the share of the native-born population continues, having ceased to be the majority in 2019. This year, the native-born population represents 44.6% of the total. The population born in the rest of Spain accounts for 12.4% of the total and that born in the rest of Catalonia for 6.8%. There are 626,924 people registered in Barcelona who were born abroad, representing 36.2% of the total.

• The district with the highest proportion of foreign-born population is Ciutat Vella, where 66.6% of its residents were born outside Spain: 10% in the rest of the European Union and 56.6% in non-EU countries.

• The highest percentages of population of non-EU origin are found in Nou Barris (34.7%) and Sants-Montjuïc (34.6%), followed by Eixample (33.1%) and Sant Martí (30.2%).

• Those born in the rest of the European Union stand out in certain neighbourhoods beyond those of Ciutat Vella: Dreta de l’Eixample (9.7%), Poble Sec (8.5%) and Vila de Gràcia (8.6%).

• People of American origin (333,240) represent 53.2% of the total foreign-born population.

• The leading country of origin is Argentina, with 49,789 people, followed by Colombia with 47,108, Peru with 43,016, and Venezuela with 35,669. In fifth position is an Asian country, Pakistan, with 31,649 people.

• Those born abroad display a young age structure, concentrated especially between the ages of 20 and 45 (with an average age of 39.5 years for both non-EU and EU-born populations). The masculinity ratio shows considerable variability among the foreign-born groups. People originating from America and Europe are populations with a balance between men and women, slightly feminised, whereas Africans and Asians are notable for their masculinisation.

• The number of people born abroad with university or higher education qualifications is growing, although with variation according to origin group. On the one hand, 64% of those originating from the rest of Europe and 73.4% of those born in Oceania have university qualifications. On the other hand, the lowest percentages of higher education are found among Africans (19.1%) and Asians (26.3%). Between both extremes are those born in the American continent, with 40.7% holding university qualifications or another higher academic degree.

• During the period analysed, from 1997 to 2026, the population with foreign nationality has multiplied by 17: from 26,600 registered in 1997 to 460,409 people, reaching a maximum in the citys recent history both in absolute terms and as a relative share (26.6% of the total). However, the year-on-year growth rate has slowed compared with 2025 (+0.7%).

• In 2026, people of 181 nationalities live together in Barcelona. With 165 nationalities, Eixample is the district with the greatest national diversity, while Les Corts is the most homogeneous, with residents from 139 different nationalities.

• Italian nationality, with 54,036 people, once again tops the ranking among the foreign population, clearly ahead of the second nationality, Colombian, with 30,196 nationals.

• Barcelona has increased from 558,539 households in 1997 to 684,077 in 2026. This growth of almost 130,000 households has occurred exclusively in households where all residents are of foreign nationality or in mixed-nationality households.

• In 2026, 72% of Barcelona households are made up of people of Spanish nationality, while 13.7% of households are composed exclusively of foreigners and 14.4% are mixed households.

• The 293.9 thousand economically active people of foreign nationality in the first quarter of 2026 represent a record 31% of the total active population, almost doubling their relative weight in less than a decade.

• Since 2021, the employment rate of the foreign population has evolved towards convergence with the employment levels of workers with Spanish nationality, although differences persist. The latest available data correspond to the first quarter of 2026 and show a gap of more than nine percentage points between the employment rate of 93.8% among the active population with Spanish nationality and 84.5% among foreigners.

• There is a wage gap by nationality and sex. In 2024, the salaries of Spanish men were more than €12,000 per year higher than those of men with foreign nationality. In the case of women, Spanish female workers earned approximately €7,000 more per year than foreign female workers.

• Foreigners are a minority among undergraduate students at the city’s various universities. In contrast, the proportion of international students is very significant in postgraduate studies, especially among doctoral students: at UPC and UPF, foreigners outnumber Spaniards, and they represent 38% of doctoral enrolments at UAB, 38.6% at UOC and 34.1% at UB.

• Of the 836,621 cadastral dwellings existing in 2026, 78.8% are owned by individual owners of Spanish nationality, compared with 5.6% that are owned by people of foreign nationality (47,005).

• Geographically, the distribution of dwellings owned by people of foreign nationality is rather concentrated in the neighbourhoods of Ciutat Vella, Eixample, Sant Martí and Sants-Montjuïc.

• Among residential property transactions registered by notaries in 2025, the proportion of buyers of Spanish nationality is much higher than that of foreign buyers (70.6% Spanish buyers, 22.9% foreign buyers and 6.4% mixed-nationality buyers). The trend has been one of a decline in transactions involving exclusively Spanish buyers.

• Of the vehicle fleet owned by private individuals in 2025, 90.3% of the total corresponds to owners with Spanish nationality and 9.7% to owners of foreign nationality.