The population of the Balearics - the official one that is - was 1,129,217 as of 1 July. In the first half of the year there was a small increase in population of 4,244. Though small, the Balearic population rise was - in percentage terms (0.38%) - the highest in Spain.
The reasons for population change, obviously enough, are natural ones plus migration, and for Spanish statistical purposes, these are broken down according to whether this migration is between countries and between regions of the country.
The Balearics was second behind Andalusia in having positive foreign migration (1,104 people) and also second, but behind Madrid, in terms of positive inter-regional movement: the Madrid community’s 11,000 plus was significantly higher than the Balearics’ 2,578.
The population of Spain fell in the first six months. The figure on 1 July was 46,423,064, a drop of 26,501. This continues a trend of slow population decline that has been occurring since 2012.
Almost ten per cent of the population is foreign, and for the first time since 2009 there were more foreigners moving into Spain than leaving - 134,143 versus 113,762. The main three nationalities concerned were Romanian, Moroccan and Italian. By the same token, there were more Romanians leaving Spain than any other nationality.
As for Spanish nationals, almost 28,000 more left than returned, a negative balance that was higher in the first six months than in the whole of last year and indeed since 2012. Over 50,000 actually emigrated and they were heading mainly to the United Kingdom, France and Germany. As a means of comparison, in 2014 a total of 80,440 Spaniards emigrated, while in 2013 the figure had been 73,329.