Foreigners residing in Canary Islands have increased by 343% in the first quarter of the 21st century, going from 77,196 people to 342,612, a growth that since the pandemic has been driven by the registrations of Italians and Colombians, while the British abandon the archipelago and show a sustained demographic decline on all islands.
In the period 2021-2025, the United Kingdom is the only major country that shows a demographic decline in the Canary Islands, with more than 3,200 no longer present, going from 28,995 residents to 25,740, a decrease of 11.23%.
And of these, almost 40% are over 65 years old, a pattern that only Germans approach, with one in three. Far from the 15% of Italians or the 4.3% of Colombians of retirement age, according to demographic data from the Canary Islands Institute of Statistics (Istac) analyzed by EFE.
The British community has gone from being the second largest in the Canary Islands to the fifth, behind Italians, Colombians, Venezuelans, and Germans.
In those five years, the total Canarian population increased by 79,942 inhabitants, to 2,258,866 people, an increase that corresponds to 67% of foreign nationals, with 53,629 new registrations from other countries.
In this way, 15.17% of the population of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands was foreign in 2025, compared to 13.26% in 2021.
The surpassing of Italy and Colombia
Italy is the country with the most foreign residents in the Canary Islands, with 55,553, 10.26% more than in 2021, but the demographic boom has been led by the Colombians, who have almost doubled their presence and are the second largest community with residents in the Canary Islands and the first in Lanzarote, 32,381, 98.56% more than in 2021.
They have surpassed the Venezuelans, who despite their notable increase of almost 40%, to 28,200 residents, are the third largest foreign national community, ahead of the Germans, who remain at 27,631, 10% more, and the British, who are 25,740, 11.23% less.
Morocco is the next community with the most presence on the islands, 20,382 people in 2025, almost 10% more than four years earlier.
Cuba, which registers an increase of 22.66% (17,499 people), China, which increases by 3.25% (10,656), and France, which rises by 11.82% (7,226), are also gaining prominence, while Romania decreases by 1.97% (8,281 residents).
Grouped by geographical blocks, Europe (excluding Spain) contributes 182,871 residents; America, 105,199; Africa, 34,425; and Asia, 19,901.
Italians in Tenerife, Colombians are spread out
The biggest increases are the Colombians and they are distributed evenly throughout the islands, with increases of over 85% in all of them since 2021.
The Italians mainly choose Tenerife, where half of them settle, but they also prefer Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura.
Tenerife also attracts 60% of Venezuelans and 50% of Britons, while the Germans offer more diversity and also have a preference for La Palma and La Gomera.
But it is not only the nationality of the foreign communities that is changing, their municipal location is also diversifying: the traditional large international tourist strongholds, such as Adeje, Arona, San Bartolomé de Tirajana or Pájara, grow little in relative terms, are stagnating or are losing British and German residents.
In fact, Pájara is the only large Canary Islands municipality that has less foreign population in 2025 than four years ago, 3.18% less.
Britons and Germans are leaving the south
In other towns in the south of the capital islands, global growth is attenuated due to the departure of British and German citizens.
In Adeje, the population from the United Kingdom decreased by 578 people; in Arona, by 445; in San Miguel de Abona, by 307; and in San Bartolomé de Tirajana, 60 Germans and 54 Britons fewer were counted.
Despite these specific decreases, the southern region of Tenerife remains the area with the largest absolute volume of foreigners in the Canary Islands (98,035 people), followed by the metropolitan area formed by Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Telde (41,348).
Adeje, with 48% of foreign residents, is the municipality with the highest proportion of foreigners, followed by La Oliva, Antigua, Santiago del Teide, Arona, Yaiza, Tías, San Miguel de Abona, Mogán and Valle Gran Rey, all above 34%.
On the contrary, Firgas is the municipality with the lowest proportion of foreign residents, 2.60%, and Valleseco, Tejeda, Arucas, Tegueste, Gáldar, Moya, Teror, Artenara and Vega de San Mateo do not reach 5% either.
Foreigners discover the deep Canary Islands
Despite the dominance of tourist towns in absolute numbers, the greatest dynamism in the arrival of foreigners has been shifting in recent years to other localities with an agricultural tradition or a local residential profile that are now the focus of attention.
Gáldar has increased its foreign population by almost 70% since 2021, Icod de los Vinos by 55%, Arico by 48%, Telde by 47%, Santa Brígida by 40%, Frontera by 39%, and Los Realejos by 36%.
In any case, in terms of absolute volume of new registered residents between 2021 and 2025, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria leads the registry with an increase of 7,804 foreigners, followed by Arrecife (3,838), Arona (3,146), Granadilla de Abona (3,075), and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (3,011).
By islands, Fuerteventura has the highest proportion of foreign population relative to its total inhabitants (31.30%, with 40,402 foreigners), followed by Lanzarote (24.58%, with 41,020 foreigners).
Next are La Gomera (18.42%, 4,155 residents), El Hierro (16.43%, 1,971 residents), Tenerife (15.90%, 153,696 residents), La Palma (13.39%, 11,555 residents), and Gran Canaria (10.26%, 89,813 residents).
El Hierro registers the highest rate of change (41.7% more), statistically associated with the arrival of Venezuelan citizens, followed by La Palma (an increase of 26.3%) and La Gomera (24.3%).
The islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife register foreign population increases of 23.1% and 17.0%, respectively; Fuerteventura rises by 15.0%) and Lanzarote by 14.9%.
Workers and retirees
The majority of immigration in recent years is linked to work activity, so that 75% of foreigners residing in the Canary Islands are between 15 and 64 years old (257,774 people), more than five points higher than in the case of Spanish nationals.
Morocco and Colombia concentrate 85.66% and 83.78% of their residents in this age group.
Regarding gender distribution, Latin American communities, such as Colombia and Venezuela, are more feminized (more than 54% are women), while the Moroccan community is predominantly male, with only 36% women.
The foreign population aged 65 or over amounts to 49,038 people, representing 14.31% of the total, but with notable differences by country: in the case of the United Kingdom, they are 38%, and in Germany, 32%, while for Colombia and Morocco, it is around 4%.
By island territories, La Gomera (23.80%) and La Palma (21.19%) register the highest proportions of foreigners of retirement age relative to their total foreign population.
School-age population
Regarding the 0 to 14 age group, foreign minors represent 14% of the regional total, with 35,800 minors out of a global census of 252,609.
Fuerteventura is the island with the highest proportion of foreign school-aged population (23.59%), followed by Lanzarote (18.13%), El Hierro (17.86%), and La Gomera (16.55%), where Valle Gran Rey stands out, with foreign minors aged 0 to 14 representing 31.3% of the total.
The most aged populations in the Canary Islands (measured as the number of people aged 65 or over per minor aged 14 or under) are Vallehermoso (with a ratio of 5.61), Agulo (5.32), and Tejeda (5.21).
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