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Spain may be attracting more immigrants than any other country in the European Union but a new study suggests it is also struggling to convince many of them to stay.

 

According to research by Funcas, the Savings Banks Foundation, more than half of the foreign-born people who moved to Spain between 2022 and 2024 have since left, either returning to their home countries or moving elsewhere in search of better opportunities.

 

The report found that almost 1.5 million expats people arrived in Spain during that period, but the country's population increased by only around 700,000 people.

 

Researchers believe a combination of housing shortages, rising living costs and insecure employment is making Spain a less attractive long-term option than some of its European neighbours.

 

“They face the same difficulties as everyone else,” explained Héctor Cebolla, one of the authors of the report.

 

Cebolla said Spain's immigrant retention rate between 2021 and 2025 stood at around 50%, a sharp drop from the 88% recorded before the financial crisis between 2002 and 2007.

 

The study also found that Spain retains a smaller proportion of immigrants than countries such as Germany and Sweden, where around 60% remain long term.

 

Another challenge highlighted in the report is the changing age profile of people arriving in Spain.

 

Nearly one in five immigrants moving to the country is now aged 55 or over, reducing the impact immigration can have on offsetting Spain's ageing population.

 

Although foreign workers have played a major role in Spain's recent economic growth and now account for almost 15% of Social Security contributors, researchers warn that many of those who arrived during the immigration boom of the early 2000s are themselves approaching retirement age.

 

The report also challenges the idea that immigration alone will solve Spain's declining birth rate.

 

According to the researchers, immigrants gradually adopt similar family and lifestyle patterns to the rest of the population after living in Spain for several years.

 

“Why would immigrants care less about the difficulties of having children? Why would they be immune to the problems of others when they face the same difficulties as everyone else?” Cebolla said.

 

“These are myths. The trend is toward convergence with the native population.”

 

The researchers conclude that immigration is helping to buy Spain time as it grapples with an ageing population, but warn that the country will increasingly have to compete with other European nations to attract and retain foreign workers in the future.