Earlier this year, a temporary dip in Málaga’s population made headlines. The National Statistics Institute (INE) had reported that between January and April 2025 the province had lost 639 residents, marking what seemed to be the first quarterly decline since 2021 and the first semiannual drop since 2018.

However, the INE has since revised its data, and the picture is now much brighter. As of 1 April 2025, Málaga’s population had in fact grown by 4,155 people compared with January. By 1 July 2025, the figure had reached 1,798,265 inhabitants, with an estimated further increase of 1,883 during the second quarter. Over the past year, the province has recorded a net gain of 14,451 residents, with more than 6,000 of those added in the first half of this year alone.

The driving force behind this growth is migration from abroad. From April to July 2025, the number of foreign-born residents rose by 2,054, offsetting a decline of 171 Spanish-born residents. In the first half of the year, 6,348 foreign-born arrivals balanced a loss of 310 locals. Over the past 12 months, the increase in foreign-born inhabitants stood at 6,348, compared with a decrease of just 75 Spanish-born residents. As of July 2025, foreign-born individuals account for 24.3 per cent of Málaga’s population, significantly higher than the national average of 19.64 per cent.

Málaga remains Spain’s sixth most populous province, behind Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante and Seville. In the second quarter of 2025 it ranked fourteenth in terms of growth rate, with provinces such as Almería recording stronger increases within Andalucía. Nationally, as of 1 July 2025, Spain’s population stood at 49.316 million, up by 119,811 since April and showing an annual increase of just over one per cent. This is slightly higher than Málaga’s own annual growth rate of 0.81 per cent.