MADRID - Spain's population fell for the first time in five years in 2020, preliminary data released on Tuesday showed, with the coronavirus pandemic taking a heavy toll.
The national statistics institute said the number of inhabitants in the country dropped by 106,146, or 0.2%, to 47.34 million last year.
Spanish nationals accounted for 41.94 million of the total population, down 79,815 on 2019 levels, while the number of foreign residents dropped 26,331 to 5.41 million.
Official data showed that 50,837 people died of coronavirus in Spain in 2020, while the number of excess deaths compared with recent years was put at more than 71,000.
Although the overall tally of foreigners edged down, the number of Britons jumped by 17,137, or 6.5% -- more than any other nationality -- as British citizens rushed to register to avoid possible expulsion.
Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016 and a transition period helping ease in new rules on freedom of travel and trade expired at the end of 2020.
Spain, like a number of other EU states, has let Britons stay in the country so long as they can prove their residence before Dec. 31.
(Reporting by Nathan Allen; Editing by Crispian Balmer) ((n.allen@thomsonreuters.com; +34 617 792 131;))
