Primary Sources and Demographic Trends of Spain's Population

Main Sources for the Study of Spain's Population

Census (decennial)

The census reflects the state of the population at a given moment. Its frequency is decennial. The census is carried out by the state statistical services and covers the entire national territory. It is universal (affecting everyone), mandatory and confidential. The census collects information on: place of residence, source and other population attributes.

Padrón (municipal register)

The padrón is maintained by municipal councils and is constantly updated, incorporating the registrations and deregistrations that occur in a municipality, as well as changes affecting those who live there.

Civil registration

Civil registration consists of official offices in municipalities where births and deaths that occurred in the municipality are registered. Although useful, early data can be unreliable.

Population Trends: Natural Movements

The evolution of the Spanish population is similar to that of other European countries and follows the demographic transition model: a shift from a former regime characterized by high birth rates and high mortality to a modern regime with low mortality and low natality. This transition took place in the 19th and 20th centuries in Europe.

Key phases and phenomena:

• In the 19th century the birth rate began to fall, with some delay compared to other countries.
• In the early 20th century there was a decline in population growth partly due to emigration.
• From the 1950s, economic development and an increase in the marriage rate (the number of marriages that occur per thousand inhabitants in a given year) allowed a recovery of births; later, births returned to fall continuously and now stand at some of the lowest levels worldwide.

The decline in the fertility rate (the ratio between the number of births and the number of women of childbearing age) has been motivated in part by the incorporation of women into the labor market.

Low mortality persisted through the 20th century. The main causes were:

• Medical progress, which reduced infant mortality.
• Improvements in hygiene and sanitary conditions, which raised life expectancy.

Infant mortality is defined as the number of children under 1 year who die per thousand live births during the first year of life.

Natural growth (the difference between births and deaths) was reduced compared to 1900; from the 1970s onward it has continued its descent.