Since December 2019, before the impact of the pandemic, the system has recorded an increase of 731,763 workers from other countries, an increase of almost 34%. In the context of the general contributors, foreign workers account for 13.6% of the total number of employed people.
The daily register remained above 2.9 million foreign contributors for eight days in October and consecutively from the 21st to the 25th of the month.
In both the seasonally adjusted and original series, the number of foreign contributors accounts for 13.6%. If we look at the regimes, the two main ones - General and Self-employed - also remain at this percentage. This means that, in the last five years, the share of foreign workers in the total number of Social Security contributors has increased by more than two points.
Average contributors
In average terms and without seasonal adjustment, i.e. in the original series, the Social Security registered 2,894,629 contributors from other countries, an increase of 210,692 in the last year. This is, as in the seasonally adjusted data, the highest number of foreign contributors in this month's series.
A total of 31.6% 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, 1.6 million are men and 1.3 million are women, having grown 34.6% since before the pandemic. The number of female contributors exceeds 44% of the total number of foreign workers.
More than 70,000 Ukrainian contributors
Among other nationalities, there are 72,374 contributors from Ukraine, 25,115 more than in January 2022, prior to the start of the war, representing growth of 53.1%.
The majority of workers (83.5%) from Ukraine are in the General System, i.e., they are salaried workers, and 16.4% are self-employed.
Systems and sectors
Overall, 83.8% of foreign national contributors are in the General System and total 2,425,138. The proportion is similar to that of all workers, with around 84% also included in the General Regime.
In the last 12 months, six sectors of activity have grown by more than 10%: Administrative and Supporting Activities (11.8%), Transport and Storage (11.2%), Arts, Entertainment and Recreation (10.8%), Financial Activities (10.5%), Hotels and Restaurants (10.4%) and Health Care and Central Services (10.38%). In addition, other sectors exceed 9%: Trade (9.6%), Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning Supply (9.5%), Construction (9.4%), Manufacturing (9.3%) and Water Supply, Sewerage, Waste Management and Remediation Activities (9%).
The distribution by sector shows a diversification in the areas of employment with the highest employment of foreign workers.
High added value activities
On the other hand, this year-on-year increase is also very remarkable in high value-added activities where notable growth is observed in sectors such as Financial Activities (10.51%), Information and Communications, which increased by almost 7%, and Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities, with an increase in the last year of 6.5%.
By activity, foreign national workers account for more than 20% of the total number of contributors in sectors such as: Accommodation (28.3%), Activities of Extra-territorial Organisations and Bodies (28.1%), Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry and Fishing (24.2%), and Construction (21.3%). In the Special Household System and the Special Agricultural System, close to 44% and 35%, respectively, are non-Spanish workers.
The Self-Employed Scheme registered 463,767 contributors of other nationalities, i.e. 13.7% of the total number of self-employed people. In the last year, foreign contributors in this regime have increased in number by 7.8%.
Non official translation
Foreign contributors in the Social Security system