Emigration of Spaniards on the rise

The number of Spaniards quitting the country rocketed by 15.5 per cent in the first six months of 2014 in comparison to the last six months of 2013, reaching its highest level since the start of 2011.

Some 42,685 Spaniards headed to pastures new between January and June, 27,026 of whom were born in Spain, according to data from the Iberian country’s national statistics agency. The most popular destination was the UK, with 3,577 heading to the British Isles, with Germany (3,021) and France (2,987) in second and third place respectively.

The figures also revealed that overall 206,492 people of all nationalities left the country during the six-month period, in comparison to 262,612 in the last six months of 2013 – a fall of 21 per cent. This meant that 163,808 foreigners either headed back to their homeland or to seek a new life in another country.
Of the non-Spanish citizens who left the country, 25,890 were Romanians and 19,151 were Moroccans. A further 6,543 Brits left Spain, compared to 8,884 during the second half of last year.

As less people left the country in the opening six months of 2014, immigration increased by two per cent during the same period, with 156,066 (17,951 of them Spanish) people arriving from other countries.

The data indicates that the mass exodus of foreigners the country has seen during the economic crisis is finally slowing, in all likelihood because the economy is performing better. Between November last year and November this year, just under 270,000 more people are in employment, marking the best November-November figures recorded since 1998.