Spain · region
Catalonia population 2026
Cataluña
Catalonia has 8,124,126 people on the latest official figure, for 1 January 2025, 111,895 more than a year earlier (+1.40%). It is 2nd of Spain’s 19 autonomous communities by population, home to 16.5% of Spain’s people.
If last year’s change continues: about 8.3 million by 1 July 2026. That is our arithmetic, not an official figure.
Catalonia in numbers
- Population
- 8.1 million 1 January 2025
- Change in a year
- +1.40% +111,895 people
- Change since 2020
- +5.23% from 7.7 million
- Share of Spain
- 16.5% 2nd of 19 autonomous communities
- Population density
- 255per km² 31,895 km²
That is about as many people as Laos (8 million).
Population of Catalonia by year
› Show the numbers as a table
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 7,514,991 |
| 2013 | 7,488,664 |
| 2014 | 7,432,833 |
| 2015 | 7,420,890 |
| 2016 | 7,440,692 |
| 2017 | 7,480,778 |
| 2018 | 7,539,364 |
| 2019 | 7,624,625 |
| 2020 | 7,720,323 |
| 2021 | 7,749,896 |
| 2022 | 7,761,864 |
| 2023 | 7,901,963 |
| 2024 | 8,012,231 |
| 2025 | 8,124,126 |
| Year | Population | Change | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 8,124,126 | +111,895 | +1.40% |
| 2024 | 8,012,231 | +110,268 | +1.40% |
| 2023 | 7,901,963 | +140,099 | +1.80% |
| 2022 | 7,761,864 | +11,968 | +0.15% |
| 2021 | 7,749,896 | +29,573 | +0.38% |
| 2020 | 7,720,323 | +95,698 | +1.26% |
| 2019 | 7,624,625 | +85,261 | +1.13% |
| 2018 | 7,539,364 | +58,586 | +0.78% |
| 2017 | 7,480,778 | +40,086 | +0.54% |
| 2016 | 7,440,692 | +19,802 | +0.27% |
| 2015 | 7,420,890 | −11,943 | −0.16% |
| 2014 | 7,432,833 | −55,831 | −0.75% |
| 2013 | 7,488,664 | −26,327 | −0.35% |
| 2012 | 7,514,991 | – | – |
Catalonia among Spain’s autonomous communities
Full ranking →| # | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andalusia | 8,676,713 | +0.52% | 17.7% | 99 |
| 2 | Catalonia | 8,124,126 | +1.40% | 16.5% | 255 |
| 3 | Community of Madrid | 7,113,886 | +1.49% | 14.5% | 886 |
| 4 | Valencian Community | 5,425,182 | +1.99% | 11.0% | 233 |
| 5 | Galicia | 2,714,741 | +0.33% | 5.5% | 92 |
| 6 | Castile and León | 2,401,221 | +0.40% | 4.9% | 26 |
| 7 | Canary Islands | 2,258,866 | +0.90% | 4.6% | 303 |
| 8 | Basque Country | 2,242,343 | +0.66% | 4.6% | 310 |
| 9 | Castilla-La Mancha | 2,126,378 | +1.04% | 4.3% | 27 |
| 10 | Region of Murcia | 1,586,989 | +1.18% | 3.2% | 140 |
| 11 | Aragon | 1,364,621 | +0.96% | 2.8% | 29 |
| 12 | Balearic Islands | 1,249,844 | +1.47% | 2.5% | 250 |
| 13 | Extremadura | 1,053,345 | −0.13% | 2.1% | 25 |
| 14 | Asturias | 1,015,128 | +0.55% | 2.1% | 96 |
| 15 | Navarre | 683,854 | +0.81% | 1.4% | 66 |
| 16 | Cantabria | 593,623 | +0.47% | 1.2% | 112 |
| 17 | La Rioja | 326,803 | +0.81% | 0.7% | 65 |
| 18 | Melilla | 87,067 | +1.26% | 0.2% | 7,057 |
| 19 | Ceuta | 83,567 | +0.47% | 0.2% | 4,517 |
Largest cities in Catalonia
City proper, not the wider metro area; latest figure in GeoNames (CC BY 4.0), so years differ.
- Barcelona1,686,208
- L'Hospitalet de Llobregat257,038
- Terrassa218,535
- Badalona217,741
- Sabadell211,734
- Tarragona141,542
Air quality in Catalonia today
Hourly AQI and a 48-hour forecast.
Questions
What is the population of Catalonia in 2026?
Is Catalonia’s population growing or shrinking?
How does Catalonia rank in Spain?
What is the population density of Catalonia?
What is the largest city in Catalonia?
Source and method
Eurostat, population on 1 January by NUTS region (demo_r_d2jan). Eurostat reuse policy (CC BY 4.0). Total area, Wikidata. Eurostat updates regional populations once a year. Ranks, shares and changes are our arithmetic on the published figures. National figures can differ from the UN’s projection for Spain, which uses a different method. The 2026 figure above carries last year’s change forward; it does not come from the source.
Cite this page: Catalonia population, Eurostat, 1 January 2025. GlobeMetrics, https://globemetrics.org/world-population/spain/catalonia/
Spain population by autonomous community · Spain population · All countries’ states and regions