Lanzarote currently has a total of 166,878 residents, 24.5% of whom are foreign nationals, a percentage lower than the 28% they represented in 2011, just before the financial crisis.
But, what are the main foreign communities and how have they evolved over time? Ekonomus analyzes all those that have or have had **more than 1,000 residents** in Lanzarote.
The Colombian community continues to consolidate itself as the foreign nationality with the largest population in Lanzarote since the overtake of the British community occurred in 2024.
Between 2021 and 2025, the number of Colombian citizens on the island has almost doubled (from 4,369 to over 8,000) and is mainly concentrated in the municipality of Arrecife.Since 2011, when there were 4,566 Colombians on the island, the growth has been 76% to reach 8,045 residents with Colombian nationality in 2025Meanwhile, the **British**, who numbered over 8,000 residents in 2011, gradually decreased, first with the economic crisis and then with Brexit, to currently number 5,944 residents.
The British community grew significantly in Lanzarote, especially between 2000, when there were 1,700 residents on the island, and 2008, when 6,853 Britons were counted living in Lanzarote, with annual growth rates between 15% and 25%.
Until the economic crisis, the growth of Britons continued to be solid, albeit at a slower pace, reaching a peak of 8,026 UK citizens on the island in 2011.The economic crisis, especially in 2014, when there was a 17.7% drop in British residents, has been the main factor in its decline. There was a small recovery during the pandemic until the effects of Brexit began to be felt more severely, although the decrease has been at rates of 4.5% annually to the present day.For its part, the **Italian community**, which holds the **third** position, has been the one that has grown the most since 2011, when it had 2,182 residents, a 99% increase, almost doubling its nationals, with 4,346 Italian citizens in 2025.
Fourth place goes to the nationals of Morocco, whose community on the island is currently composed of 4,248 residents, fewer than in 2011, when 4,384 Moroccan citizens were counted living in Lanzarote.
However, the sharpest decline among foreign residents has been that of the **Germans**, who in 2011 had 4,404 compatriots residing in Lanzarote, while now there are practically half, a total of 2,204 German residents.Thus, Germans, who in 2011 were the third largest foreign community on the island after the British and Colombians, are today the fifth, far surpassed by the Italian and Moroccan communities.Next, in sixth place, is the **Chinese** community, with 1,543 residents currently, a 20.5% increase from 2011 when there were 1,280 residents from the Asian giant.
The serious political and economic problems in Venezuela in recent years have led to the Venezuelan population on the island nearly tripling since 2011 to currently stand at 1,144 residents of that nationality, placing them in seventh position.
Next are the Irish, who have grown steadily in recent years and have just surpassed a thousand, specifically 1,064 residents.
The Ecuadorians, who became the seventh-largest foreign community on the island in 2011, with 1,211 residents from Ecuador, have experienced the inverse process of the Venezuelans, currently numbering only 420 residents.
The citizens of Romania, who numbered 1,143 in 2011, are currently 946 and occupy the ninth position, about to be overtaken by residents of Cuba, who, if they were 394 in 2011, currently have a community of 946 citizens.
