8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Europe / Southern Europe

Born in Spain

About 1 in 392 people born in 2023 started life in Spain. A boy can expect to live 81 years and a girl 86, up from 59 and 64 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 392
odds of being born here
336,800 births · Ranked 68th of 230
81 / 86
years of life, boys / girls
Was 59 / 64 in 1950
$20,020
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 51st of 203 · extrapolated
80%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 22 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 101 in every 1,000 births to 2.9.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth81.0 years for boys, 86.3 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 52.9 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year447,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people4.3World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles96%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.3%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year10 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 2.5 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.2, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
01234195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.21UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth32.5 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 40 and the poorest fifth 7.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
7%Poorest fifth
13%Second
17%Middle
23%Fourth
40%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $20,020 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth40% / 7% (2023)World Bank PIP
Unemployment12.2% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises3.5% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person1.3% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming4% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed15% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment118% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Madrid, with 3.3 million people.

80%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Madrid3.3 million
Barcelona1.7 million
Valencia824,340
Zaragoza686,986
Sevilla686,741
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Spanish99%
English24%
Catalan17%
Galician7%
Basque2%
Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Basque, Asturian is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Madrid6.4 million
Andalusia6.3 million
Catalonia6.1 million
Valencia4.0 million
Canary Islands2.0 million
Basque Country1.7 million
Galicia1.6 million
Murcia1.4 million
Castille and León1.3 million
Castille-La Mancha990,913

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 19 regions
  • Madrid6.4 million
  • Andalusia6.3 million
  • Catalonia6.1 million
  • Valencia4.0 million
  • Canary Islands2.0 million
  • Basque Country1.7 million
  • Galicia1.6 million
  • Murcia1.4 million
  • Castille and León1.3 million
  • Castille-La Mancha990,913
  • Balearic Islands884,380
  • Aragon882,583
  • Asturias711,531
  • Extremadura492,721
  • Cantabria309,280
  • Navarre281,933
  • La Rioja175,951
  • Melilla85,985
  • Ceuta83,179

People on the move

About 3.4% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are France, United Kingdom, United States.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
France254,830
United Kingdom211,894
United States168,755
Residents born abroad18.5% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 3.4% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostFrance (254,830), United Kingdom (211,894), United States (168,755)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $7.3 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

89% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 57%.

89%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
57%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 2024121,852Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19503; the deadliest, in 1956, killed about 11 people (magnitude 5)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence236 between 1991 and 2004UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Spain, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Spain

Elsewhere in Europe

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences