Population keeps on growing

THE population in Almeria province has broken 700,000 for the first time.

There are now 704,000 people living in the province according to figures just published.

That is more than 15,000 higher than the 688,736 recorded by the National Statistics Institute (INE) in 2011.

In Almeria City the population rose from 190,349 in 2011 to 191,443 last year. Roquetas de Mar’s population grew from from 89,851 in 2011 to 90,358 according to the municipal register, or padron.

On the other hand, El Ejido has seen a population drop of almost 2,000 in two years.

Almeria City is the provincial capital with the highest birth rate on the Spanish mainland with its average 1.6 children per mother only surpassed by Ceuta and Melilla, with averages of 2.15 and 2.35 children.

A big factor behind the provincial demographic increase, according to the INE, is that most of the immigrants in the province come from Arabic cultures, which have higher birth rates than Western ones.