Inter-provincial migration of the Spanish workforce in 1988 and 1994

This paper provides some new insights into the volume, age composition and geographical pattern of migration between provinces of those of working age in 1988 and 1994 based on annual registration data. Migration efficiencies are used to indicate that net migration is becoming less important as a mechanism for redistributing the population overall, although age-specific efficiencies vary geographically. Age selectivity is examined using five-year age groups to exemplify migration trends in particular provinces, and three broad age groups to contrast the different geographical dynamics of interprovincial migration for young, mid and older working age migrants. The paper quantifies the importance of return migration in Spain in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The research is part of an ESRC-funded project on Internal Migration and Regional Population Dynamics.