Tourism employment rose 3.8% in December and ended 2024 with the highest number of national insurance contributors in the historical series

The number of national insurance contributors in the tourism sector continued its upwards trend in 2024 and ended December with an increase of 3.8% over the same month of the previous year. In the last month of last year, contributors linked to tourism activities increased in absolute terms by 98,387 people, reaching a total of over 2.68 million workers. In relation to the labour market of the country as a whole- which grew by 2.3% year-on-year this month- tourism employment accounted for 12.7% of the total number of registered workers.

The change in the number of contributors was also positive in all branches of tourism in December. In Hotels and Restaurants, the increase was 50,805 contributors (15,886 in Accommodation Services and 34,919 in Food and Beverage Services), and in Travel Agencies and Tour Operators it increased by 3,159 workers. Other tourism activities also recorded an overall increase of 44,423 employees.

Wage earners increase by 4.4%

In December, the number of employees in the tourism sector, one of the variables that measure the improvement in the quality of employment, increased by 4.4% with respect to the same month of the previous year to represent 81.4% of the total number of contributors in this sector.

By branch of activity, salaried employment increased in travel agencies and tour operators (4.6%) and in hotels and restaurants (3.7%), and within the latter, it increased by 5.5% in accommodation services and by 3.3% in food and beverage services.

Self-employment in tourism, which represents 18.6% of the total number of contributing workers, increased by 1.1 %. There were no significant variations in the hotel and catering business, as the growth in accommodation services (2.4%) offset the decline in food and beverage services (-0.1%). In travel agencies, there was a 5.6% year-on-year increase in the number of self-employed people.

In the hotel and catering and travel agencies/tour operators sectors added together, which account for 66.5% of the total number of national insurance contributors in tourism, enrolment increased by 3.1% year-on-year. This increase was due to both an increase in employees (3.8%) and an increase in self-employed workers (0.4%).

Employment grows more in Andalusia and the Canary Islands

Employment in hotels and catering and travel agencies and tour operators as a whole increased in all Autonomous Communities - as well as in Ceuta and Melilla - in December.

In absolute figures, the largest increase was, as usual, in Andalusia, which also experienced the largest increase in relative terms (4.3% more) together with the Canary Islands (4.1% more).

Non official translation