Marbella's population increases by 600 people per month and has already surpassed 172,000 inhabitants.

The Marbella City Council is clear that the city must continue to grow urbanistically, and indeed, the data supports this. The second town in the province ended 2015 with 131,472 inhabitants, reached 144,884 residents in 2020, and as of September this year, it has already surpassed 172,000 registered people, according to data from the Municipality.

This figure was reached after a spectacular growth rate throughout this year. Marbella bid farewell to 2024 with 166,775 inhabitants, and the population stood at 172,063 people on September 25. That's 5,288 more inhabitants, or in other words, Marbella's population has grown this year at a rate of about 590 people per month and 20 per day.

Population

172,063 inhabitants

Marbella reached this population figure on September 25, 5,288 more than it had at the end of 2024, which represents a growth of almost 20 people per day.

The data as of September 25 already makes 2025 the third year with the highest population increase in the last ten years, and if this average continues, it would break the record for the decade. Indeed, these figures confirm a trend. After the population increased by 1,817 people in the pandemic year, the following year, in 2021, it grew by 4,173 people to reach 149,057 registered. In 2022, the number of inhabitants shot up by 6,939 people; in 2023, it grew by 4,274, reaching 160,270; and last year it increased by 6,505 people. That is, 17,718 more inhabitants in just three years, to which another 5,288 have already been added this 2025.

More workers and housing

The population increase goes hand in hand with economic growth. The latest Social Security affiliation data showed a figure of 81,390 contributors at the end of September, which is 11,350 more than in the same month of 2021 (70,040 affiliates), which means an average of about 2,840 more workers each year.

This stubborn reality has forced the municipal government to aim for the city to continue growing. The City Council, as advanced by the Councilor for Urban Planning, José Eduardo Díaz, is working on dozens of projects in the short, medium, and long term to meet the housing needs driven by the population increase, including several thousand social housing units. Just in San Pedro Alcántara, among those under construction, with approved licenses, or with upcoming authorization to start work, there are 399, and the municipal government's goal is to reach 800 social housing units within about five years.