The data confirms the sensations: Barcelona is an “expat” city. Five percent of Barcelona residents are already immigrants from countries with a higher per capita income than Spain, confirming the upward trend that says that this segment of foreigners has quadrupled in the last 25 years.
There are 86,000 people living in Barcelona despite coming from wealthier countries, that is, 15% of the total number of migrants living in the city. Of this wealthier group, most come from Italy, France and the United Kingdom, but in recent years residents from places like the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Ireland, Cyprus and Israel have grown.
These are data from a study that the ACN has made with data from the municipal census, which has ordered the data of origin of migrants, selecting data from countries that have a higher GDP than Spain. And although this field includes many countries that are clearly more prosperous than Spain, it also includes others such as Italy, the largest migrant community in Spain (thanks, in large part, to naturalized Argentines). However, although the data may be open to interpretation, they do offer interesting clues about the growth of the expat community in Barcelona.
Where do expats live in Barcelona?
According to the analysis of this study,the districts with the most residents of this profile are Eixample, with more than 20,000, followed by Ciutat Vella and Sant Martí, presumably in the Poblenou or 22@ area.
At the other extreme, Nou Barris and Sant Andreu, the former, the poorest district of Barcelona, are the areas with the smallest presence of this group.
Eight out of ten expatriates in the city are European, and Italians (the largest migrant community in Barcelona) lead the list with 26.7% of the total, followed by the French (20.9%). The British (10.7%) and German (9.2%) communities also stand out. F
Lately, the fastest growing nationality is Israeli, with an increase of 49 %, followed by Irish (+45.2 %), Americans (+35 %) and Canadians (+33 %). Although Italians remain the largest group, these other countries have experienced significant growth in recent years.
Expats, the only foreigners richer than Barcelonians
EU expats are the only foreign group that surpasses Spaniards in salary levels in Barcelona. According to recent data, in 2023 Spanish residents earned on average 37,451 euros gross per year, while EU citizens reached 37,721 euros.
The difference with the local population is minimal, but the average stands out more when compared with the rest of the migrant population, which reaches the poorest levels of the group. In contrast, the average income of foreigners as a whole was 28,739 euros, reflecting the economic gap between expatriates with high purchasing power and the rest of the migrant population in the city.