Catalonia has set a new demographic record: for the first time, the number of residents who have passed the centenarian mark has exceeded 3,000. As of early July 2025, the region is home to 3,051 people over the age of 100. Interestingly, women among them outnumber men by nearly five times—they account for more than 83% of all centenarians.
The majority of centenarians are concentrated in the province of Barcelona—almost 2,300 people here are over a hundred years old. In the regional capital alone, there have been more than a thousand such residents for several years in a row. The rest are spread across Tarragona, Girona, and Lleida, with 284, 275, and 214 centenarians respectively.
The surge in the number of centenarians is striking: over recent decades, their population has almost doubled every ten years. In the mid-1980s, Catalonia had only 185 residents over 100; by 1995, that number had grown to 370, by 2005—to 815, and by 2015—to more than two thousand. This steady increase indicates significant changes in life expectancy and the quality of healthcare.
Shifting age demographics
But it’s not just the number of centenarians that’s changing. In recent years, Catalonia has seen a steady decline in the number of children and teenagers. Over the past eight years, the population under 15 dropped by almost 98,000. Meanwhile, the number of adults and elderly residents has continued to rise. In just the first six months of 2025, the number of children and teenagers fell by nearly 11,000, while the 16-64 and over-65 age groups increased by 35,375 and 16,631 respectively.
In percentage terms, the number of young residents decreased by almost 2% over the year, while adults and seniors grew by 1.4% and 2.3% respectively. By mid-2025, Catalonia’s total population reached 8,154,627, up by 41,137 in just six months. Over the year, the population grew by more than 87,000, an increase of 1.1%.
Demographic challenges and outlook
A sharp rise in the number of elderly people, combined with a shrinking younger generation, is creating new challenges for the region. On the one hand, greater life expectancy points to high-quality healthcare and overall well-being. On the other hand, fewer children and teenagers could change the future workforce and reshape social support systems.
Catalonia keeps changing, and these demographic shifts are already visible not just in the statistics, but in the daily life of cities and villages. How the region will adapt to this new reality remains to be seen.
