The Social Security registers 2,806,557 foreign contributors in July, 13.5% of the total number of workers

The Social Security registered 2,806,557 foreign contributors in July, after discounting seasonality and the calendar effect, having added 5,302 employed people. The number of foreign workers remains at record highs.

Since December 2019, before the impact of the pandemic, the system has recorded an increase of 644,158 workers from other countries, an increase of almost 30%.

This figure in July represents 13.5% of the total number of contributors, in seasonally adjusted terms.

In average terms and without seasonal adjustment, i.e. in the original series, the Social Security registered 2,892,763 contributors from other countries, an increase of 197,523 in the last year.

The daily registration of foreign contributors remained above 2.9 million between 15 and 18 July, and the rest of the month, above 2.8 million.

Average contributors

The average number of contributors stood at 2,892,763 in July, 197,523 more than in the last twelve months (7.3%), the second best figure since data has been available. To this effect, the percentage of foreign contributors out of the total number of national insurance contributors has risen in the original series to 13.5%.

A total of 31.8% are workers from EU countries. Of all the nationalities, Romania is the country with the highest number of workers, followed by Morocco, Colombia, Italy, Venezuela and China.

Of the total number of foreign contributors, about 1.6 million are men and the number of foreign women is close to 1.3 million, having grown by 34% since before the pandemic, outstripping the increase among men.

More than 70,000 Ukrainian contributors

Among other nationalities, there are 72,205 contributors from Ukraine, 24,946 more than in January 2022, prior to the start of the war, representing a growth of 52.8%.

The majority of workers (85%) from Ukraine are in the General System, i.e., they are salaried workers, and 15.3% are self-employed.

Systems and sectors

Overall, 84% of foreign national contributors are in the General System and total 2,429,100. The proportion is similar to that of all workers, with around 84% also included in the General Regime.

In the last 12 months, four sectors of activity have grown more than 10%: Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning Supply, which grew 11.2%; Health Care and Central Services Activities (10.7%), Administrative and Supporting Activities (10.7%) and Transport and Storage (10.4%). Other sectors such as Financial and Insurance Activities (9.9%), Construction (9.6%), Hotels and Restaurants (9.5%), Arts and Crafts (9.3%) and Trade (9.2%) also grew particularly strongly.

High added value activities

This year-on-year growth is also remarkable in high value-added activities where notable growth is observed in sectors such as Information and Communications, which have increased by 7.2%, and Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities, with an increase of 6% in the last year.

By activity, foreign national workers account for more than 20% of the total number of contributors in sectors such as: Activities of Extra-territorial Organisations and Bodies (28.7%), Hotels and Restaurants (29%), Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry and Fishing (24.2%), and Construction (20.8%). In the Special Household System and the Special Agricultural System, 45% and 33.7%, respectively, are non-Spanish workers.

The Self-Employed Scheme registered 457,438 contributors of other nationalities, i.e. more than 13.5% of the total number of self-employed workers. In the last year, foreign contributors in this regime have increased in number by 7.6%.

Average national insurance contributors by autonomous community and system

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