2,044,669 average foreign National Insurance contributors recorded in January

Foreigners account for an average of 10.86% of all National Insurance contributors.

Of the total number of foreign workers contributing to the Spanish social security system, 1,307,637 are from non-EU countries (63.95%) while the other 737,032 are from EU countries (36.05%). The largest groups of foreign workers come from Romania (320,114), Morocco (258,939), Italy (120,439) and China (97,610). Of the total figure, 1,171,067 (57.27%) were men and 873,601 were women (42.73%).

Average monthly foreign contributors

The average number of foreign workers registered with the Spanish Social Security posted a drop of 33,967 in January in monthly terms. Only Andalusia posted a rise in contributor numbers (up 0.89%). All the other regions posted lower numbers, particularly Extremadura (down 4.33%), the Region of Valencia (down 3.88%), Castile-La Mancha (down 2.91%), Castile and Leon (down 2.59%) and the Balearic Islands (down 2.4%).

By regime, the majority of the foreign workers contributing to the Spanish social security system fall under the General Regime (1,677,221), a figure that includes the Special System for Agricultural Workers (232,142) and the Special System for Domestic Workers (163,525). This is followed by the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (363,749), the Special Regime for Seamen (3,666) and the Special Regime for Coal Workers (33).

Over the month, the General Regime saw an average decline of 1.92% in foreign contributors. The sectors to enjoy the largest rises were the Supply of Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning (up 2.71%), Financial Activities and Insurance (up 1.32%), and Information and Communications (up 0.2%). In contrast, the sectors to post the largest falls were Hotel and Catering (down 4.64%), Construction (down 3.72%), Administrative Activities and Auxiliary Services (down 3.65%), Activities of Extra-territorial Organisations and Bodies (down 2.81%) and Other Services (down 2.58%).

The special systems that make up the General Regime deserve a special mention, specifically the Special System for Agricultural Workers, which posted a decline of 0.36% in December, while the Special System for Domestic Workers fell by 0.05%.

For its part, the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers fell by 0.29% in foreign contributors in January to a total of 363,749 workers.

Year-on-year change

The average number of foreign contributors fell by 45,771 on December last year (down 2.19%). Despite this negative variable since the start of the pandemic, four regions posted positive year-on-year figures: Castile-La Mancha (up 2.17%), Galicia (up 1.95%), Andalusia (up 1.32%) and Asturias (up 1.2 %). The rest posted declines, particularly the Canary Islands (down 15.14%), the Balearic Islands (down 5.83%) and the Autonomous Cities of Ceuta (down 39.96%) and Melilla (down 24.83%).

Specifically, the number of foreign workers registered under the General Regime of the social security system has fallen by 3.67% over the last year, with particularly high losses in Hotel and Catering (down 23.12%), Artistic, Recreational and Entertainment Activities (down 17.38%) and Other Services (down 13.49%). In contrast, the sectors to enjoy the largest rises in foreign workers were the Supply of Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning (up 15.44%); Health Activities and Central Services (up 9.51%), Financial Activities and Insurance (up 7.54%), the Supply of Water, Sanitation Activities (up 4.88%) and Public Administration and Defence, Obligatory Social Security (up 5.61%)

In turn, the number of self-employed foreign workers has risen by 5.27% year-on-year.

Non official translation