Spain's Shrinking Population Has A Problem

The last time Spanish women had on average more than 2.3 children—what's known as the global replacement fertility rate—was in 1979, and by 1998 the country's fertility rate had gone all the way down to 1.16 children per woman.

Whilst in the previous 19 years—from 1959 to 1978—the Spanish population had increased by just short of seven million people, in the 19 years following the passing of the 1978 constitution, modern Spaniards added just two-and-a-half million more citizens to the roll.

By 1998, immigrants in Spain were only about 1.5% of the total, some 637,000 foreigners out of a total population of 39.8 million Spaniards. Then came the real-estate boom years and a massive wave of immigration.

Total population had skyrocketed by…

#Spain #Economy #Population #Immigration #Future