Half of the municipalities of Euskal Herria have suffered a loss of population in the last decade. However, the number of inhabitants is increasing. Euskal Herria has 3,152,200 inhabitants. In the last year, again, population growth has been positive thanks to the immigrant population. In Bizkaia, for example, due to the arrival of new immigrants, the country has ceased to lose its population in the last biennium. Zuberoa is, in line with the old trend, the only country that has lost population in 2018. However, depopulation of Zuberoa is not the only phenomenon that deserves attention.

According to the DEGURBA classification, the three territorial typologies – the urban center, the rural environment and the urban environment – have gained population in the last year and in the decade. The Basque Country maintains population growth, but only 17.4% of the population lives in rural areas. Behind this general trend there are several nuances: There are 150 municipalities with less than 200 inhabitants, of which 55 have less than 100 inhabitants. The demographically sensitive geography are areas such as the merinity of Estella, Zuberoa, Roncal, Salazar, Auñamendi or Garazi-Baigorri.La depopulation in the Spanish State draws attention to the importance of the health of
medium-sized cities housing employment and services. Moved to the reality of the Basque Country, it is functionally the regional leaders who maintain the territorial balance.

Trend of last year

The rural areas of Bizkaia and Zuberoa have lost population. The loss of Zuberoa is serious and far away. This is a trend that comes from the First World War, which is suffering the loss of population for a whole century. Meanwhile, the loss of population in central Bizkaia since 2011 has been slowed, although it has 13,700 inhabitants less than at the beginning of crisis.En the districts of Lumbier, Auñamendi, Roncal-Salazar,
Alavesa Mountain or Sangüesa there has been a significant loss of population. Among these regions, most of them have suffered a significant loss of population in the last decade. Therefore, in most cases responds to a trend of depopulation arraigada.De the 686 municipalities that make up the Basque
Country, 339 have lost population. Of these, 291 are in rural areas. The number of municipalities that have lost the most population is in Navarra. There has also been a question in the east of the merinity of Estella. Gernika, Bermeo, La Rioja Alavesa, Garazi-Baigorri or Goierri have also lost population in one way or another.

Trend in the last decade

The rural area of Zuberoa has lost the most population: twenty-eight municipalities have lost population and only fifteen have gained or barely endured. In addition, the overaging of this area is important: 15.8%. Meanwhile, the demographic growth of the rural areas of Lapurdi and Baja Navarra has been significant: 17.8% and 6.5%, respectively, especially in Lapurdi. That is, the recovery of urbanism makes the paradigm and mobility of “sleeping villages” increasingly stronger inside. That does not affect Zuberoa, however.

The rural area of Navarre has also lost population: 0.8%. Unlike urban centers: 5.4%. The situation is particularly serious in Roncal-Salazar. 14% of the population has been lost and the degree of overaging is very high: 20%. Twelve of the eighteen municipalities in the region of Roncal-Salazar have lost more than 10% of their population. There are no municipalities that have not suffered loss of population in the
comarca.En Navarra, Sangüesa, Baztan, Tafalla, Ribera del Ebro or Ribera de Arga/Aragón also have to take into account the loss of population. They are low-density areas and have a degree of overaging above the Basque Country average. In any case, they are not the only regions of Navarre that have lost population. In this period the population of the Region of Pamplona has grown by 6.8%. These are the oldest trends in the most notable territorial imbalances, which seem to have begun to blur in recent years. However, trends continue to be deeply rooted in the reality of the country.

There are also other areas in the Southern Basque Country with structural problems of population containment. Highlights include the Alavesa Mountain, Treviño or Lea Artibai.