Social Security closes the year with 212,000 more foreign contributors and over 2.9 million employed people

Social Security registered 2,927,598 foreign national contributors in December, after discounting seasonality and the calendar effect, having added 16,536 employed people. Foreign national employment figures were at a record high at the close of 2024, a trend that has continued almost throughout the year..

Since December 2019, prior to the impact of the pandemic, the system has recorded 765,199 more workers from other countries, an increase of almost 35.6%. In the context of overall contribution, foreign national workers account for 13.7% of the total number of employed people, six tenths of a percentage point more than a year ago.

Average contributors

In average terms and without seasonal adjustment, i.e. in the original series, Social Security registered 2,280,818 contributors from other countries, an increase of 212,042 in 2024. This is the highest number of total foreign contributors to Social Security in both the original and seasonally adjusted series for a month of November.

A total of 31.1% are workers from EU countries. Of all the nationalities, Morocco heads the list of countries with the highest number of contributors, followed by Romania, Colombia, Italy, Venezuela and China.

Of the total number of foreign contributors, 1.6 million are men and 1.3 million are women, a figure that has increased by 35.2% since prior to the pandemic. The number of female contributors now exceeds 43% of the total number of foreign workers.

More than 70,000 Ukrainian contributors

Among other nationalities, there are 72,376 contributors from Ukraine, 25,117 more than in January 2022, prior to the start of the war, representing a 53.1% growth.

The majority of workers (83.2%) from Ukraine are in the General Regime, i.e., they are salaried workers, and 16.8% are self-employed.

Regimes and sectors

Overall, 83.6% of foreign national contributors were in the General Social Security Regime, with 2,408,646 workers. This proportion is similar to that of total workers, with around 84% in the General Regime.

In the last 12 months, five activity sectors have grown more than 10%: Transport and Storage (16%), Administrative and Supporting Activities (11%), Water Supply (10.8), Health Care Activities (10.3%), Agriculture, Livestock, Hunting, Forestry and Fishing (10.1%).

The distribution by sector shows a diversification in the areas of employment with the highest number of foreign workers.

High added value activities

On the other hand, this year-on-year increase is also very notable in high value-added activities, where notable growth is observed within this General Regime in sectors such as Financial Activities (9.5%), Information and Communications, which increases by more than 7.1%, and Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities, with an increase in 2024 of 6.6%.

By activity, foreign nationals account for more than 20% of the total number of contributors in: Activities of Extra-territorial Organisations and Bodies (28%), Hotels and Restaurants (27.8%), Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry and Fishing (24.6%), and Construction (21.5%). In the Special System for Household Employees, around 44% are foreign nationals, and in the Special Agricultural System, more than 35%.

In November, the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers accounted for 467,616 contributors of other nationalities, i.e. 13.8% of the total number of self-employed people. In the last year, the number of foreign national contributors in this regime has increased by 8.3%.

Non official translation