OVER 40,000 Spaniards abroad to find work in the first six months of this year, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE)'s Migration Report.
Most of them headed to the UK and France, although in terms of residents leaving the country for good, the majority went to Ecuador, since this was where they were originally from.
Of the 259,227 people who moved away from Spain between January and June 2013, more than 40,000 were Spanish nationals, whilst 134,312 foreigners moved to the country to live.
As a result, the country's 'migration balance' fell into negative figures – 124,915 more people left than arrived.
Those abandoning Spain increased in number by 50 per cent on the previous six months, from July to December 2012, resulting in a fall in immigration of 11 per cent and an increase in outward migration of 10.7 per cent.
Just 15,000 Spaniards who had previously left the country to find work returned in the first half of this year, meaning the 'migration balance' of Spanish nationals is also in negative with nearly 25,000 fewer living in their native country.
Only the Balearic and Canary Islands, Murcia, and the Spanish-owned city of Ceuta on the northern Moroccan coast have seen their populations rise this year.
Although Spain's foreign population fell by four per cent in the first six months of 2013, this was partly due to 124,000 non-nationals applying and being accepted for Spanish citizenship.
The government has recently announced plans to cut back drastically on the number of Spanish nationality applications it accepts, and to make conditions tougher.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com