Figures compiled by the Canarian Institute of Statistics (ISTAC) have revealed that the foreign population of the seven islands continued to grow in 2009, with a further 4,457 non-Canarian residents registered as living in the archipelago. Bringing the total number of foreign residents to 305,661, or 14.55% of the 2.1 million people who live in the Canary Islands.

The population also continues to grow in diversity, with 65% of the 192 nationally recognized states represented within the Canarian autonomous community. The breakdown of foreign residents shows that the vast majority are of European origin (177,844), followed by 81, 235 from the Latin American continent, 31,128 from one of several African countries, 15,318 people from Asia and 72 people born in Oceania.  

British residents who are officially registered as living within the Canaries have reached 42,513, just behind the resident German population of 43,693. Whilst 28,434 Italians also consider the Canary Islands as their home.

From the Latin world, there is a greater concentration of Columbians, with 20,347 resident on one of the islands, followed by 11,714 Cubans, 8,797 Argentinians, 5,504 Uruguayans and 3, 959 Bolivians. From the United States, there are 805 residents and 647 people who were born in Mexico. The African countries that have the highest number of residents in the Canaries are Morocco (18,215), Mauritania (3,380) and Senegal (3,198).