3 Barcelona’s population: evolution and characteristics

3.1 Evolution of Barcelona’s population

Barcelona’s population decreases slightly in 2026 and stands at 1,729,963 people, the second highest figure in the last forty years. According to the Municipal Register as of 1 January 2026, the population of Barcelona has reversed the growth trend that began in 2023 when migration flows resumed after being halted by the pandemic. However, the year-on-year decline in 2026 has been only 0.1%, and therefore the number of registered inhabitants remains at the highest levels since 1986.

Figure 1: Resident population in Barcelona (1900–2026)

Source: Barcelona City Council. Municipal Data Office. Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination. Reading of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, as of 1 January 2026.
More information available at: Population, Population (microdata).

The most recent data from the 2026 Municipal Register record a new pause in the upward trend that Barcelona’s registered population has experienced since the beginning of the 21st century, previously interrupted only during the years of economic crisis and in the 2021–2022 biennium as a result of the health crisis. Once the pandemic was overcome, demographic recovery was clearly consolidated in the 2023–2025 period. While in 2024 the highest year-on-year growth rate of the previous two decades was reached (2.6%), the 1.7% in 2025 already showed a slowdown compared with the previous year. The 2026 data reflect a change in trend (-0.1%), too small and too incipient to assess its possible continuity.

In absolute terms, as of 1 January 2026 there are nearly 2,103 fewer residents than a year earlier, a very small decrease considering that Barcelona has added 63,433 people to those residing in the city in January 2020, just before the outbreak of the pandemic.

This recent growth scenario is therefore comparable to that of the early years of the 21st century. However, although noteworthy, it remains well below other past expansion phases of the city in demographic terms, such as those experienced in the mid-20th century. Indeed, the increase of 110,350 registered residents between 2010 and 2026 is far from the growth of 199,004 inhabitants in the decade following the Civil War, the increase of 277,684 people in the 1950s, and the —already more moderate— gains of 187,279 and 144,021 during the 1960s and 1970s respectively.

Therefore, the current growth phase must be contextualised in relation to previous phases, such as the expansionary phase of the first eighty years of the last century, driven by the combination of positive natural and migratory balances, the contraction phase of the 1984–2000 period, or the subsequent expansionary phase of the early years of the millennium, marked by the absorption of migration flows that compensated for the stagnation of natural growth, all of them linked to their respective economic cycles.

Figure 2: Resident population in Barcelona (2002–2026), year-on-year variation (%)

Source: Barcelona City Council. Municipal Data Office. Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination. Reading of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, as of 1 January 2026.
More information available at: Population, Population (microdata).

The demographic structure and population growth dynamics of Barcelona since the beginning of the 21st century are explained by the evolution of migration balances with abroad, positive for much of the last 25 years, but negative during the years of economic crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. These balances continue to more than offset the structurally negative natural growth, marked by continuously declining fertility. Overall, with the fluctuations described, the number of registered residents in the city over the last twenty years falls within a relatively narrow range, between 1.60 and 1.73 million people.

3.1.1 Evolution of the population by districts and neighbourhoods

Seven of the ten districts have slightly reduced their registered population in 2026, while Ciutat Vella, Nou Barris and Sant Andreu record small demographic increases. Thus, the population decrease is fairly evenly distributed across the territory, resulting in small year-on-year changes in all districts, ranging from -0.7% in Les Corts to +0.4% in Ciutat Vella and Sant Andreu.

However, when expanding the time frame to the most recent five-year period, from 2022 to 2026, a notable demographic growth becomes evident, which has been widespread across all ten districts of the city, with growth rates ranging from 3.2% in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi to 9.2% in Ciutat Vella, which stands out with annual increases above the city average. Nou Barris (7.3%) and Sants-Montjuïc (6.7%) rank as the second and third most dynamic districts over the last five years. More moderate growth is recorded in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi (3.2%), Les Corts (3.3%), Eixample (3.9%) and Gràcia (4%). None of these movements has altered the distribution of the population among districts in absolute terms, with Eixample (277,353 inhabitants) and Sant Martí (252,625 inhabitants) remaining the most populated districts in 2026. At the other end, Les Corts remains the least populated, the only district below one hundred thousand residents (83,773).

Figure 3: Resident population by district in Barcelona, as of 01/01/2026

Source: Barcelona City Council. Municipal Data Office. Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination. Reading of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, as of 1 January 2026.
More information available at: Population, Population (microdata).

A fairly homogeneous territorial pattern of population distribution and growth is confirmed, albeit with nuances, contrasting with previous phases when either the districts furthest from the centre absorbed the main flows of immigrants (1960s), or the historic centre acted as the primary reception area that later redistributed population to peripheral neighbourhoods (second half of the 2000s).

Figure 4: Evolution of the resident population by district in Barcelona (1997–2026)

Source: Barcelona City Council. Municipal Data Office. Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination. Reading of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, as of 1 January 2026.
More information available at: Population, Population (microdata).

The detail in Map 1 shows how the population decrease over the past year has been distributed territorially. In general, the decline in the number of registered residents has affected a large part of the city, and only 16 of the 73 neighbourhoods have gained population compared to 2025. However, the change has been very small in most areas, which is reflected in the respective year-on-year variation rates, very close to 0% in most territories, both in neighbourhoods where the population increases and where it decreases. Notable exceptions include the continued prominence of growth in Marina del Prat Vermell, with an increase of 10.4%, reflecting a very basic growth profile: a demographically very small neighbourhood undergoing intense urban development, where the construction of new housing attracts new residents, although this year’s growth is clearly lower than in 2025, when the neighbourhood’s population increased by 45.5%. The growth of the least populated neighbourhood in the city, La Clota, should also be highlighted again, with a 4.9% increase in population, although the growth rate has also slowed compared to the previous year (27.3%). Among other neighbourhoods with population gains, Fort Pienc (2.9%) and El Raval (1.9%) stand out.

Figure 5: Population by district in Barcelona (2025–2026), year-on-year variation (%)

Source: Barcelona City Council. Municipal Data Office. Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination. Reading of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, as of 1 January 2026.
More information available at: Population, Population (microdata).

Map 1: Population in Barcelona’s AEBs, year-on-year variation 2026 (%)

Source: Barcelona City Council. Municipal Data Office. Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination. Reading of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, as of 1 January 2026.
More information available at: Population, Population (microdata).

Regarding neighbourhoods with the largest population losses between 2025 and 2026, notable cases include Antiga Esquerra de l’Eixample (-2.5%) and Vallvidrera, el Tibidabo i les Planes (-1.9%), Pedralbes and Sarrià (both with a decrease of -1.4%), and Sants (-1.2%). Map 1 details the territorial distribution of the slight decrease in residents at a lower territorial level, the Basic Statistical Areas.

In summary, the January 2026 data show a break in the trend of sustained growth observed in recent years, as indicated by the slight reduction in Barcelona’s resident population over the past year. However, the loss of registrations has been minor and widely distributed across the territory, suggesting more a stabilisation of the population figures than a clear shift towards population decline. Nevertheless, it will be necessary to wait for the coming years to gain a clearer perspective on the evolution of the city’s resident population.

3.2 Population by age and sex

By sex, no significant changes are observed in the structure of the resident population compared with previous years, and once again women predominate in almost all areas, especially from the age of 45 onwards. Overall, women account for 52% of the total population, a proportion almost identical to that of previous years and very similar to that of recent decades.

The age structure that shapes the accompanying population pyramid reflects a mature society aligned with the rest of Europe, where birth rates are increasingly low, resulting in very low natural growth. Cohorts at the base of the pyramid are small and declining. In contrast, increased life expectancy explains higher survival among older generations.

The largest cohorts are those of young adults, particularly those aged 30 to 39. The largest five-year group is adults aged 30 to 34, with 148,776 people. Cohorts between 25 and 64 years are the only ones exceeding one hundred thousand people, and together account for 58.1% of the total population. This age structure places the average age at 44.63 in 2026, a figure that has gradually increased and has remained above 44 years since 2013, becoming yet another indicator of an ageing demographic structure, a feature shared with many other European cities.

Figure 6: Population pyramid of Barcelona, as of 01/01/2026

Source: Barcelona City Council. Municipal Data Office. Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination. Reading of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, as of 1 January 2026.
More information available at: Population by sex and five-year age group, Population by sex and five-year age group (microdata), Population by sex and age (microdata).

In childhood, youth and young adulthood, a sex ratio1 above 100 indicates that men outnumber women. From the age of 45 onwards, the sex ratio reverses and progressively declines with increasing age, as a result of higher female survival at all ages. In fact, for all age groups aged 45 and over, this ratio is below 100.

Figure 7: Sex ratio by five-year age group, as of 01/01/2026

Source: Barcelona City Council. Municipal Data Office. Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination. Reading of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, as of 1 January 2026.
More information available at: Population by sex and five-year age group, Sex ratio by five-year age group, Population by sex and five-year age group (microdata), Population by sex and age (microdata).

Figure 8: Sex ratio by district, as of 01/01/2026

Source: Barcelona City Council. Municipal Data Office. Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination. Reading of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, as of 1 January 2026.
More information available at: Population by sex, Sex ratio, Population by sex (microdata).

Women are the majority in all districts except Ciutat Vella, where they account for 44.6% of the population, a percentage slightly lower than in previous years. In this district, the greater male presence among young people and adults is particularly notable, especially in the 40–44 age group, with 137 men per 100 women, and in the 35–39 group, with 141 men per 100 women. This is explained by the high proportion in the district of several groups of population born outside Spain with a strong male bias, as described in section 4.1.1. At the opposite extreme, and with a profile very similar to that of previous years, the districts with a relatively higher presence of women are Sarrià-Sant Gervasi (54.0% of the total population), Gràcia (53.7%), Les Corts (53.4%) and Horta-Guinardó (52.8%).

3.2.1 Weight of the child and elderly population

The contrast between the weight of the population under 16 years of age and that of the population aged 65 and over provides a synthetic view of part of the major recent demographic transformations of the city.

As shown in the accompanying chart, since 1981 the relative weight of the child population has continuously declined, while that of the elderly population has increased until stabilising. Despite some fluctuations in the series, the strong underlying trend observed brings us ever closer to a situation where for each child under 16 there are practically two adults aged 65 or over. Considering the total population, 11.7% are children and 21.1% are aged 65 and over.

In contrast to these two population groups, which broadly make up the inactive or dependent population, stands the working-age population: in Barcelona, there are slightly more than three people of working age per person aged 65 or over, and two people per person in the two inactive groups combined. The entry into working ages of the Baby Boom generations first, and the subsequent arrival of immigrants of working age, explains why these two ratios have remained fairly stable since the 1980s. Finally, the 20–24 age group (approximately the age of entry into the labour market, with 97,093 people) has a number of individuals similar to that of the 65–69 age group (around retirement age, with 90,019 people), ensuring a hypothetical immediate replacement of the active population.

Therefore, in recent years, despite the process of demographic ageing, the stabilisation of the relative weight of the population aged 65 and over is framed within a context of inflows of young and adult migrants that contribute to widening the central part of the age pyramid. In parallel, the slight upturn in birth rates in the years prior to 2010 has contained the relative decline of the child population.

Beyond the increase in the population aged 65 and over, the ageing process is also explained by gains in life expectancy. Greater survival explains the upward trend in the super-ageing indicator, which measures the proportion of people aged 85 and over within the population aged 65 and over. Thus, over the last 45 years, not only has the share of the elderly population increased, but the percentage of people aged over 84 among seniors has risen from 6.6% in 1981 to 18.6% in 2026.

Figure 9: Share of children and elderly population over total population (1981–2026)

At the territorial level, the distribution of the child and elderly population is quite divergent. This year, a notable change is that Marina del Prat Vermell rises to first place as the neighbourhood with the highest relative proportion of children (18% of its total population), followed closely by La Clota (17.9%), and, completing the top three, Ciutat Meridiana (17.7%). The territorial concentration of the child population shows socioeconomic polarisation, as four of the city’s highest-income neighbourhoods also stand out for their relatively high shares of children: Sarrià, les Tres Torres, Pedralbes and Vallvidrera, el Tibidabo i les Planes, all with between 16% and 17% of children. The neighbourhoods with the highest proportions of elderly people are Canyelles (31.2% of the total), Vall d’Hebron (29.1%) and Les Corts (27.9%).

Map 2: Population aged 0 to 15 by AEB (%), as of 01/01/2026

Source: Barcelona City Council. Municipal Data Office. Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination. Reading of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, as of 1 January 2026.
More information available at: Population by age, Population by age (microdata), Population by five-year age group, Population by five-year age group (microdata), Population by broad age groups.

3.2.2 Centenarian population

An interesting aspect of the age and sex structure of Barcelona’s population, which must be included in demographic analysis, is the notable growth in the number of people aged 100 and over. The growing presence of centenarians is a major social achievement which, beyond genetic factors, reflects increased overall survival due to significant advances in medicine, nutrition, quality of life and health and social care, as well as other environmental and socioeconomic factors.

The accompanying chart shows two undeniable features: the number of people reaching over one hundred years continues to rise, and female predominance is overwhelming. With the exception of the slight impact of the pandemic, a new historical peak is reached each year, and in 2026 there are 1,196 residents aged 100 or over. This increase in the centenarian population is sustained and accelerating: in 2026 there are 92 more people aged 100 or over than in 2025, and 332 more than five years earlier.

Once again, women’s greater longevity is evident, attributable to a combination of biological and social factors. There are 982 women and 214 men aged 100 or over; women therefore represent 82% of the total centenarian population.

Figure 10: Centenarian population (2016–2026)

Source: Barcelona City Council. Municipal Data Office. Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination. Reading of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, as of 1 January 2026.
More information available at: Population by age, Population by age (microdata), Population by five-year age group, Population by five-year age group (microdata), Population by broad age groups.

The increase in the number of centenarians is not unique to Barcelona. As in many parts of Spain and Europe, the fastest-growing age group both in absolute and relative terms is that of people aged 85 and over. In Spain, the number of centenarians has multiplied twentyfold over the past four decades. These general features frame the broader trend towards population ageing, with life expectancy at record levels and a persistent decline in fertility and birth rates.

By neighbourhood, those with the highest concentrations of centenarians in absolute terms are Nova Esquerra de lEixample, Sant Gervasi-Galvany, Antiga Esquerra de lEixample, Dreta de l’Eixample, Sagrada Família, Sant Andreu and Poblenou.

Map 4: Centenarian population by neighbourhood, as of 01/01/2026

Source: Barcelona City Council. Municipal Data Office. Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination. Reading of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, as of 1 January 2026.
More information available at: Population by age, Population by age (microdata), Population by five-year age group, Population by five-year age group (microdata), Population by broad age groups.

3.2.3 Average age of the population

Since the 44-year threshold was surpassed in 2013, the average age of Barcelona’s population has fluctuated between 44 and 45 years. This year, the average stands at 44.63 years, the second highest ever recorded in Barcelona, slightly below the 2022 peak (44.68 years). The upward trajectory of the average age during the last two decades of the 20th century —almost seven additional years between 1981 and 2001— slowed in the mid-2000s as immigration flows rejuvenated the population.

Approximately since 2014, the average age has remained stable, with some peaks within the 44–45 range. This range is in line with the Catalan context2 (average of 44.17 years for 2025), Spain3 (44.55 years) and Europe4 (44.9 years). The average age is also increasing in nearly all EU countries, with Italy (49.1 years) and Ireland (39.6 years) representing the extremes in 2024.

Figure 11: Average age of the population in Barcelona (1981–2026)

Source: Barcelona City Council. Municipal Data Office. Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination. Reading of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, as of 1 January 2026.
More information available at: Average age of the population, Average age of the population by sex, Median age of the population, Median age of the population by sex.

Except for Ciutat Vella, there are no major differences between districts: the highest average age corresponds to Les Corts (46.74 years). Ciutat Vella, with a trajectory that diverges from that of the other districts, is not only the district with the lowest average age (39.87 years, the only one below 40), but also the district where recent trends indicate a rejuvenation of its population. This is explained by the high inflow of residents born abroad, whose age structure is younger than that of the native population or those born in the rest of Spain.

3.3 Population by educational attainment

The 2026 data reaffirm the trajectory of gradual improvement in the educational attainment of Barcelona’s population. Indeed, over recent decades, the proportion of inhabitants with higher levels of education has increased steadily: both the rise in educational attainment and the widening gap between men and women at these levels are increasingly evident trends. The proportion of the population aged 16 and over holding a university degree or higher vocational qualification has risen from 23.8% in 2009 to 37.4% in 2026, in a continuous upward trend among men and, especially, women.

Year after year, the data confirm the growing disparity in educational attainment between men and women at higher education levels (tertiary education). There are virtually no differences between men and women at primary and secondary levels. By contrast, while in 2009 the proportion of women with university education (23.9%) slightly exceeded that of men (23.6%) by 0.3 percentage points, this gap has since widened to reach 4.6 points in favour of women (39.6% compared with 35% in 2026).

These figures are part of a broader trend also observed in Catalonia, Spain and many European cities: a gender gap in academic achievement in favour of women, particularly among younger generations completing bachelor’s or official master’s degrees. In 2024, 49.9% of women in the EU aged 25 to 34 had completed tertiary education, compared with 38.7% of men. This pattern is observable across the EU as a whole5.

Figure 12: Population aged 16 and over with university or higher vocational education (2009–2026)

Source: Barcelona City Council. Municipal Data Office. Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination. Reading of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, as of 1 January 2026.
More information available at: Population aged 16 and over by level of education, Population aged 16 and over by level of education and sex, Population aged 16 and over by level of education and sex (microdata).

Map 5: Population aged 16 and over with university or higher vocational education by AEB (%), as of 01/01/2026

Source: Barcelona City Council. Municipal Data Office. Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination. Reading of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, as of 1 January 2026.
More information available at: Population aged 16 and over by level of education, Population aged 16 and over by level of education and sex, Population aged 16 and over by level of education and sex (microdata).

3.4 Most frequent names and surnames of the population

The most frequent names among women registered in Barcelona are Maria/María, Montserrat, Marta, Laura, Núria/Nuria, Cristina and Carme/Carmen. Among men, Antonio/Antoni, Jordi/Jorge, David, Josep/José, Marc and Manuel/Manel. The following illustrations show the most frequent names of residents by decade of birth.

Figure 13: Most frequent names of Barcelona residents by decade of birth

Source: Barcelona City Council. Municipal Data Office. Department of Statistics and Data Dissemination. Reading of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, as of 1 January 2026.
More information available at: Most frequent names by sex, Most frequent names by sex and decade of birth (microdata), Names of Barcelona residents by average age and sex (microdata), Surnames of the inhabitants of Barcelona (microdata).