Instituto Nacional de Estadística
The number of persons with Spanish nationality residing abroad reached 3,202,002 as of 1 January 2026, according to data from the Register of Spaniards Residing Abroad (RSRA).
This figure represented an increase of 5.1% (156,036 persons) as compared with the data as of 1 January 2025.
By continent, 60.0% of those registered had established their residence in the Americas, 36.4% in Europe and 3.6% in the rest of the world. The largest increases in the number of registered persons in 2025 were in the Americas (115,965 more) and Europe (32,791).
In relative terms, the largest increases were recorded in the Asia (9.2%) and Africa (6.5%).
73.1% (2,341,045 people) of Spaniards who were residing abroad as of January 1, 2026, were born outside of Spain, and 60.7% (1,943,347) were born in their current country of residence.
Most of new registrations during 2025 corresponded to residents in the Americas (171,495 of the total) and persons born in their current country of residence (179,241).
Among the new registrations in 2025 by people born in Spain, the majority were residents in Europe (62.0%) and the Americas (25.4%).
By age, the largest increases were recorded among the population aged 16 to 64 (69.5%) and those under 16 years old (25.1%).
The foreign countries where the most Spanish nationals resided as of 1 January 2025 were Argentina (543,971), France (329,548) and the United States (236,394).
In absolute terms, the highest increases of Spanish population during 2025 were registered in Argentina (38,031 more), Mexico (23,414) and the United States (15,679).
The data released today are final. All the results of this operation are available on INEbase.
The statistics on Spaniards Residing Abroad are obtained from the statistical exploitation of the central file of the Register of Spaniards Residing Abroad (RSRA), which contains the registrations of people who are Spanish nationals and habitually live outside of Spain, whether or not this is their only nationality. The RSRA is formed with the data existing in the Registration Registry of each Career Consular Office or Consular Section of the Diplomatic Missions.
The registrations carried out within the year before the 1st January of the reference year correspond to new registers due to any possible reason (birth, nationalization, omission and emigration from Spain abroad).
The statistical use of the RSRA central file provides the distribution of registered individuals and the distribution of new registrations by variable on the date of reference, but it does not provide information about the reasons for changes with respect to the previous year.
For more information you can access the methodology and the standardized methodological report.
INE statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Best Practices for European Statistics, which is the basis for the institution's quality policy and strategy. More information in Quality at the INE and the Code of Best Practices.
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