Spanish Population Grid at 100 m × 100 m

Traditionally, demographic and socioeconomic statistics have been compiled using the State’s administrative structure (municipalities, census tracts, etc.), which is closely linked to policymaking. However, administrative divisions do not always reflect the functional reality of territories or allow spatial patterns to be captured with precision.

Aware of these limitations, Eurostat has worked over recent decades on developing projects to overcome the constraints of traditional administrative divisions. Within this framework, it has released population grids at different points in time with a resolution of 1 km × 1 km. More recently, Eurostat has disseminated a new version of this grid based on data from the 2021 census, which, in the case of Spain, has been produced and published by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

Despite the significant advances represented by the 1 km × 1 km population grid, it still presents limitations for urban or local studies that require a higher level of detail. In this context, the BBVA Foundation and Ivie have estimated a population grid with 100 m × 100 m cells for Spain, based on the 2021 Population Census, with the aim of improving the spatial resolution of population distribution data. This new grid is consistent with European standards and with the original 1 km × 1 km grid. It is also accompanied by a range of applications that illustrate the analytical potential of this data format.

The database is provided as a CSV file containing the identifier of each inhabited 100 m × 100 m cell, in accordance with INSPIRE standards, along with its population. A vector file is also available in GeoPackage format, including the spatial geometry of each populated cell.

Fundación BBVA and Ivie (Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas). Grid de la población española 100 m X 100 m. Bilbao: València, May 2026. Database available at: https://www.fbbva.es/bd/grid-de-la-poblacion-espanola-100-m-x-100-m/ [date: ].