Spain / Population falls

Spain’s official population fell last year for the first time since records began as immigrants fled a five-year on-and-off recession that has sent unemployment soaring.

The number of residents fell by 206,000 to 47.1 million, the National Statistics Institute said on Monday, a figure entirely accounted for by the fall in the number of registered foreign residents.

It was the first time a population drop had been recorded in official statistics since records began in 1857 – although until 1998 figures were published roughly every decade, rather than annually.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor  

via Spain’s population falls as immigrants flee crisis | Reuters.