Málaga Province's Population Continues to Grow: Updated Figures from the INE

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.

The Population Reversal
Where the Growth Is Coming From
Málaga in the National Picture

The Population Reversal

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 revision matters because early, provisional figures from statistical agencies can understate net migration, which tends to be confirmed only once municipal registers catch up. In Málaga’s case, the correction turned what looked like a rare contraction into a continuation of the growth pattern the province has shown for most of the past decade.

Where the Growth Is Coming From

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.

That gap between Málaga’s foreign born share and the national average is not new. The province, and Marbella in particular, has drawn international residents for decades, first through retirement and lifestyle migration and more recently through remote workers and investors relocating full time rather than simply buying a holiday home. Population data like this tends to track a step behind the property market, since buyers typically purchase months or years before registering as full time residents.

Marbella and the wider Costa del Sol are typically among the first areas to reflect this shift, since their international schools, healthcare providers and estate agencies tend to see rising demand well before it shows up in official population statistics.

Whether that pace holds through the rest of 2025 will depend largely on whether foreign arrivals keep outpacing departures at a similar rate, but the direction of travel is now clear: Málaga’s population is expanding again, not shrinking.

Málaga in the National Picture

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.

For buyers and investors watching the coast, steady population growth is one of the clearer indicators of underlying housing demand, alongside the transaction volumes and price trends covered in our Marbella Property Market Report. A province adding residents faster than the national baseline, driven mainly by international arrivals, points to continued demand for both rental and resale property across the Costa del Sol.