PROVINCIA DE ALICANTE – The province of Alicante has grown by 19,832 inhabitants in one year. That is the second-largest increase since population growth began in 2017. Furthermore, most municipalities are growing. Important exceptions are in the Vinalopó valley and the surroundings of Alcoy.
After ten years, the province of Alicante officially exceeds the limit of 1,900,000 inhabitants again. This is confirmed by the data from the population register as of January 1, 2022. It shows that Alicante has a population of 1,901,594, 19,832 more than in the previous revision of the statistics. That means an upward trend that started in 2017 is continuing. Then it reached a turning point with 1,825,332 inhabitants, 120,310 fewer than four years earlier.
Growth spread across the province
The aforementioned increase of 19,832 people in the last year-over-year period is also the second highest in the past five years. Another striking fact is that its growth is quite widespread and spread throughout the territory. This means that the vast majority of municipalities in all regions have seen their population increase. This is a significant difference compared to 2021 when most of the major cities in the province lost inhabitants.
Alicante city
Alicante city is an example of this. With 338,577 inhabitants, 1,273 more than a year ago, Alicante reaches a new record. The same applies to Elche, which has 235,580 inhabitants, 1,375 more than in 2021. Torrevieja, Orihuela, Benidorm and San Vicente del Raspeig are also growing. The latter is now the sixth most populous municipality in the county after surpassing Alcoy.
Ageing affects
It is also clear from the data that demographic growth has not been confined to large and medium-sized cities, but that many small villages have also gained population. To give a few examples: the fact that Quatretondeta can record 16 new registered inhabitants in twelve months and Alcoleja and Vall d’Ebo 15 each means a relatively large growth for those municipalities, which are more used to losing inhabitants than new ones to get people.
Depopulation remains a problem in the interior province
Nevertheless, depopulation remains a very serious problem in the mountainous interior of the province. Also, ageing and the lack of socioeconomic resources continue to affect many places. The least populated municipality in the province remains Tollos, with a historic minimum of just 30 inhabitants, well below the lowest figure to date.
See also: Buying a village in Spain is a new trend among foreign investors
Famorca also remains in penultimate place with 48 inhabitants, three more than in 2021. The penultimate, Benimassot, loses four inhabitants and remains at 93, a figure which, like Tollos, is the lowest in 165 years (the period for which this data is kept).
