Series: Occasional Papers. 2027.
Author: Eduardo Gutiérrez, Enrique Moral-Benito and Roberto Ramos.
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Abstract
In the period 1950-2018, the share of the population living in urban areas in Spain increased from 65% to more than 87%. This increase was especially strong until the end of the 1970s, during the period that is sometimes dubbed the rural exodus, with this share reaching 82% in 1981. Since then, the share of the urban population has continued to rise, albeit at a significantly slower pace, as a result of uneven population dynamics across rural and urban areas. Urban areas experienced strong demographic momentum from the end of the 20th century to 2011, but have subsequently stalled. By contrast, although the rural population increased until 2010, rural areas have undergone steep population declines since then. However, the population dynamics across rural areas are markedly uneven based on their size and whether or not they belong to a functional urban area. Specifically, very small rural areas (fewer than 1,000 inhabitants) have undergone steep population declines in recent decades. Furthermore, the natural population decrease in rural areas, a consequence of a population structure skewed towards older cohorts, is noteworthy. Conversely, rural areas belonging to a functional urban area have experienced significant natural population increases in recent years. In the period elapsed since the mid-20th century, the increase in the share of the urban population in Spain was among the largest in Europe, such that the percentage has converged with that observed in Europe’s most urbanised countries.