The subdelegate of the Government in Ourense, Eladio Santos, highlighted this Friday, on World Population Day, the demographic growth experienced in the province since 2022 thanks to immigration, after a decade of decline. He did so during a visit to the office of the National Institute of Statistics (INE) in Ourense, where he discussed the evolution of the population with the provincial delegate of the agency, José Manuel Gerpe Vispo.
At the meeting, Eladio Santos explained that in the province there was a continuous decline in the population for many years, more pronounced between 2010 and 2020, and there was no change of trend until 2022, when the minimum figure of 304,280 inhabitants in the province was reached. In the years 2023 and 2024 there were slight increases in the population, which will also continue in this year.
The subdelegate indicated that this increase had a lot to do with the city of Ourense, since in 2003 the population of the city council was 109,475 inhabitants (its highest figure) and since that year it was following a negative trend that except for some exceptions in 2010 and 2020, it remained until 2022, when it reached the lowest figure: 103,756 inhabitants. From that year onwards, a change of trend was observed that was maintained in the year 2024 (with a total of 104,725 inhabitants) and is expected to continue in this year 2025.
Thus, Santos stressed that the vegetative balance is negative (4,759 deaths and 1,339 births in 2023) and the increase in the population has to do with the arrival of foreign people, who currently represent 7.07% of the provincial total and 18.39% of the inhabitants of the capital, compared to 5.04% and 13.92%, respectively, of the year 2022. "Immigration is a key factor in halting depopulation and, therefore, as today, we celebrate with these figures a hope for the future for a province that wants to remain alive, thriving and capable of growth," he said.
The subdelegate specified that the youngest immigrants come from Ethiopia and Vietnam with an average age of 20 years, while the oldest immigrants come from Iraq, Korea and Portugal, with an average age of 54 years, although the largest number of immigrants come from Venezuela with an average age of 41 years.
"These people find in Ourense a place to build their life project, so I want to reaffirm the commitment of the Government of Spain with an orderly, safe and supportive migration policy," he said.
Aged population
Regarding other demographic indicators, Eladio Santos pointed out that despite the increase in the foreign population, the province still has an aging population, with 32% of people over 64 years of age, compared to 20% nationwide. On a positive note, the subdelegate noted that life expectancy at birth increased from the beginning of the century of about 80 years to 84 today. "This reality reveals that the increase in pensions carried out by this government is fundamental," he said.
Finally, Santos thanked "the continuous and rigorous work" that the employees of the INE do "to provide an accurate radiography of society." "Your work is a fundamental tool for making informed decisions in a responsible manner," he said.