Andorra's population: how many, and who

Andorra is home to barely ninety thousand people, and yet the simple question of how many people live there causes confusion. You’ll find figures from 2023, from June, from July and from the parish registers, and none of them match. Here’s the latest official number, from August 2026, and where the others come from, so you don’t quote the wrong one.

How many people live in Andorra?

The statistics department’s release of 15 September 2026 is unambiguous. On 31 August, the resident population of the principality stood at 90,105. That’s 1,699 more than twelve months earlier, growth of 1.9%. At the end of 2025 it was 89,058, and on 30 June 2026, 89,752, so the country is still adding people month by month.

A new release comes out every month. The September figures are due on 12 October 2026, after which this one will be out of date. That’s why I always give it with its date attached.

Why do the numbers differ?

Because each measures something different, or a different moment. The 90,021 on the Spanish foreign ministry’s profile is the July 2026 figure from the same series. The 85,101 still used by the tourist board comes from the 2023 census. And 94,480 is the number registered with the parish councils, which the statistics department explicitly keeps apart from the estimate, because being on a parish register isn’t the same as living in the country. For residents, the estimate is the one to trust.

Parish by parish

Andorra la Vella leads with 24,840 residents, 27.6% of the total, though it’s growing slowest, at 0.5%. Escaldes-Engordany, which it merges into, has 16,347. Together they pass 41,000, almost half the country, on the floor of the same valley. Then come Encamp with 13,751, La Massana with 12,402 and Sant Julià de Lòria with 10,300.

The two least populated parishes are in the mountainous north and east. Canillo has 6,614 residents and the fastest growth in the country, 4.4% in a year, while Ordino is the smallest, with 5,851. What each offers visitors is in the parishes of Andorra. If you’re choosing a base, the population gap matters less than you’d think, because even the busiest parish feels small once you’re off the main road.

Where do Andorra’s residents come from?

Andorran nationals number 40,168, 44.6% of the total, so less than half the people living in Andorra hold its passport. Spanish nationals form the second group, 21,197 people or 23.5%. Next come the Portuguese, 8,300, the French, 4,274, and other nationalities, 16,166 between them. British residents aren’t counted separately in the release, so I won’t guess at a number.

The trend is revealing. In 2025, according to the December release, other nationalities grew fastest, by 8.0%, followed by the French at 6.2%, while the Portuguese fell by 1.2%. You’ll hear that mix in the street, in the languages around you, as I explain in what language they speak in Andorra.

Age, health and work

Under-15s make up 10.5% of the population and over-65s 16.1%, according to the same release. The Spanish foreign ministry adds a life expectancy of 84.1 years in 2024 and an unemployment rate of 0.9% in 2025. The tourist board goes further and claims a world top-five place, but without naming the ranking behind it, so I’ll stick to the 84.1 years.

The ministry also notes that from the 1950s the country shifted from farming to trade and tourism, with strong population growth. Density in 2025 was 192 people per km², but that figure misleads, because nearly everyone lives on the valley floors while the tourist board counts over nine-tenths of the territory as forest, meadow, lake or bare mountain. Exactly how big the country is, in square miles too, is in how big is Andorra.

What it means for visitors

For travellers, these figures explain a lot. A country of 90,105 people hosts far more visitors than that, since the tourist board puts retail and tourism at 60% of the economy. That’s why there are so many hotels in so little space and so many services aimed at outsiders. And it’s why, as the Andorran government itself acknowledges, customer service in many shops is mostly in Spanish. For a British visitor that’s useful to know. A few words of Spanish or Catalan will get you further here than French, and a smile and a card payment will get you through the rest, since cards are accepted almost everywhere.