Madrid province had the highest population of 52 provinces in 2018, at 6.58 million. Ceuta province had the lowest, at 85,144. The median was 609,164 and the figure for Spain was 46.72 million. Source: the Instituto Nacional de Estadística.
Resident population. Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (Padrón). United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July. Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.
For Denmark, Statistics Denmark counts the registered resident population on 1 January. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are excluded. The annual series selects the first-quarter reference date from FOLK1A. The World Bank series exists for every country, so use it (through compare) to rank countries on one basis.
Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the provinces are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.
How to cite
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). Cifras oficiales de población de los municipios españoles: Revisión del Padrón municipal (tabla 29005). https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Tabla.htm?t=29005. Retrieved 2026-10-07.
Use this data in your AI agent
Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:
Rank Provinces of Spain by population using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"population","level":"province","within":"Spain","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=population&level=province&within=Spain&limit=10
Madrid province, with 6.58 million in 2018, according to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística.
Which province has the lowest population?
Ceuta province, with 85,144 in 2018.
Where does this ranking come from?
Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Cifras oficiales de población de los municipios españoles: Revisión del Padrón municipal (tabla 29005). Retrieved 2026-10-07.
