Elma Saiz: "Employment would not have grown so much in recent years if it were not for the contribution of foreign workers"

The Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, closed the presentation of the report "Radiography of migration in the labour market"

Spain has undergone an unprecedented demographic transformation in recent years. Since 2018, the population has grown at a much faster rate than in neighbouring countries, 4.2% compared to 2.1% in France and also compared to Italy, which is losing population. Our country has gone from having 46.6 million inhabitants in 2018 to 48.6 million at the beginning of 2024, according to data published in the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration's report "Radiography of migration in the labour market".

"This major demographic transformation is most visible in the labour market. Employment would not have grown so much in recent years if it were not for the contribution of foreign workers", explained the Minister for Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, at the closing of the presentation of the report, which was detailed by the Secretary of State for Social Security and Pensions, Borja Suárez, and the Secretary of State for Migration, Pilar Cancela.

Labour market developments

At the end of 2024, there were 21.34 million national security contributors in our country, in seasonally adjusted terms, with an increase of 1.5 million since the implementation of the labour reform. Of the total, 611,013 are foreign workers (40.4%).

In the last year alone, 40.1% of the jobs created (202,616 out of a total of 505,315) have been filled by foreign workers, with 289,910 Spaniards and 212,042 people of foreign origin joining the labour market.

The Secretary of State for Social Security and Pensions stressed that "in recent years, the employment of foreigners has grown faster than that of nationals, which has increased the participation of this group in the labour market. By the end of 2024, the share of foreigners in the total stood at 13.5%, a percentage that was 10.4% in 2018".

"Our labour market is at historically high levels. The contribution of foreign workers has been crucial. And we can extend this contribution to our pension system, which today is more sustainable thanks to these workers' social contributions", added Borja Suárez.

The minister explained that "the demographic phenomenon in Spain in recent years, with the key incorporation of the foreign population, has gone hand in hand with a series of legislative reforms, and specifically the regulatory development of the Regulation on Foreigners. These data are possible thanks to this joint effort and work within the ministry itself, inter-ministerial collaboration, social dialogue and dialogue with different institutions and entities".

High added value activities

The contribution of foreign workers is increasingly prominent in high value-added activities. Among those that have experienced above-average growth in this regard (3%) since 2018, Information and Communications (4.9%) stands out, as do Construction (above 6%) and Hospitality (5.5%).

Another indicator of the growing weight of migrants in our labour market is the labour force. As of 2018, the foreign population has re-established its role as the main driver of growth in the working-age group in Spain. More than 70% of the increase in this indicator in recent years is due to the foreign working-age population, which rose from 2.8 million in 2018 to 3.9 million in 2024, according to the latest data from the Labour Force Survey (EPA). For the country as a whole, the labour force exceeds 24.4 million people, up from 22.8 million in 2018.

The foreign population shows a greater weight of young people among national insurance contributors. Of the total number of foreign contributors, 34.1% are under 35 years of age. If we look at this group as a whole, this percentage drops to 25.5%, while among national contributors it stands at 24.2%.

Integration of the migrant population

Spain has experienced a population growth of 4.2% in the last 6 years, from 48.6 million in 2018 to 48.8 million in 2024. As of 30 June 2024, there were 7,027,810 foreign nationals with valid residency documentation in Spain, an increase of 1,661,452 people since the same date in 2018.

The Secretary of State for Migration, Pilar Cancela, stressed that these figures "reflect the efforts of this government to develop policies that allow for the full inclusion of the migrant population in Spain".

Cancela reviewed some of the most important regulatory developments that have contributed decisively to this data. "To cite a couple of examples of particular relevance, the 2021 reform focused on unaccompanied minors and has meant that 60% of minors and young people formerly in care up to the age of 23 are now registered with Social Security," she said.

The Secretary of State for Migration added that "the 2022 reform deepened the concept of 'arraigo' [right to reside by "settlement"], becoming a tool that guarantees and generates employment for many thousands of people. To this effect, between August 2018 and September 2024, a total of 437,916 authorisations were granted. To put this in context, the number of authorisations granted in 2018, as of August, was 63,856".

The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration continues to work at the legislative and executive level with the adoption of the new Regulation on Foreigners, which plans to regularise the status of some 900,000 people in three years for their integration into the labour market. This reform opens up the possibility of being able to work immediately both for people who take advantage of the "arraigo" system in each of its five channels to access residency, and for students for the recruitment of talent.

Work is also being carried out on the development of an Integration Plan, one of the basic pillars of which is the inclusion of migrants in the labour market; and on the approval of a new catalogue of posts that are difficult to fill.

Non official translation