Spain surpasses 3 million foreign affiliates, which also marks a record for self-employed workers.

Social Security has surpassed the average number of foreign contributors for the first time, reaching 3,070,831 contributors in May, after recording an increase of 73,524 compared to April in a month in which the total number of contributors reached a new historical record of 21.78 million .

Data shared this Monday by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration indicate that foreign workers account for 14.1% of the total number of contributors to the system. Since the 2022 labor reform, the proportion of foreign workers in our labor market has grown significantly, and 41% of the jobs created in the last three years correspond to workers of foreign origin. This figure has increased by 187,864 in the last year.

In total, there are 1.4 million more foreign contributors than in 2015, representing an increase of 84.6%. During that time, contributors from non-EU countries have grown by 118% , and the number of EU citizens has increased by 56.5%. More specifically, 31% of these workers are from European Union countries. Among all nationalities, Morocco tops the list of countries with the largest number of contributors, followed by Romania, Colombia, Italy, Venezuela, and China.

As with the data for native workers, 84% of foreign workers registered with the General Social Security System, totaling 2,580,639 workers.

In the last 12 months, foreign registration under this scheme has grown by around 6.8%, especially in seven sectors: Transport and Storage (25.4%), Water Supply (10.5%), Administrative Activities (9%), Financial Activities (8.9%), Construction (8.6%), and Manufacturing (8.6%). In this regard, the ministry highlights that among the activities that have experienced above-average growth in foreign registration since 2018 are Information and Communications, Construction, Transport, and Hospitality.

Meanwhile, the number of foreign self-employed workers registered in May also reached a record high of 484,062, 6.5% more than a year earlier, with particularly significant increases in the last year in Information and Communications (31.9%) and Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities (17.7%).

The distribution by sector in both the General and Self-Employed Workers Regimes shows increasing diversification. For example, the year-on-year growth in foreign affiliation is particularly notable in high-value-added activities, where significant growth is observed, as mentioned above, in Financial Activities (8.9%), Scientific and Technical Professional Activities (7%), and Information and Communications (5.7%).

If we analyze the temporary nature of the contract, the same pattern is repeated—and even improved—for native-born employees, 12% of whom have temporary contracts. The temporary employment rate is also at a historic low among foreigners, at 11.3%.

According to Minister Elma Saiz, "the number of foreign workers registered also reflects the positive signs we see in the labor market as a whole: temporary employment has fallen to historic lows, and sectors that are growing above average, such as those with high added value, are diversifying."