Romanians, Moroccans, largest groups of foreign workers in Spain

The number and percentage of people of foreign origin who work in Spain and contribute to Social Security continues to increase. And there are two national groups that stand out in the statistics, those from Romania and Morocco.

According to the latest foreign affiliation figures released on Thursday by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations, the Social Security institution registered a total of 2,260,779 foreign contributors in October, after discounting seasonality and calendar differences.

October was the fifth consecutive month of growth, with 34,923 more foreign workers than in September, that is, 1.57% more, and some 71,000 more than in February 2020, before the impact of the pandemic.

With the increase in October, the percentage of people of foreign origin who work in Spain stands at 11.5% of the total number of Social Security affiliates, in seasonally adjusted terms.

In terms of average affiliation, Social Security had 2,261,144 foreign contributors in October, of which 798,473 came from EU countries (35.31%) and 1,462,671, from third countries (64.69%). There were on average 20,369 more employed than in September.

Largest national groups

The largest national groups of foreign workers were those from Romania (333,795), Morocco (275,116), Italy (141,521) and China (105,409). Of the total contributors, 56.51% were men (1,277,860), while 43.49% were women (983,284).

By region, the greatest increase in the number of foreign contributors was in Extremadura (10.58%), La Rioja (5.91%), Andalusia (5.03%), Castilla y León (4.05%). On the contrary, the most pronounced decreases were registered in the Balearic Islands (-8.18%) and in Castilla-La Mancha (-5.56).

By scheme, most foreigners are affiliated to the General scheme, a total of 1,871,401 people. This record includes the Special Agrarian System, with 223,459 employed persons, and the Home one, with 166,102. The average increase in the General scheme was 1.04%.

The number of foreigners in the Self-Employed scheme (Regimen Especial de Trabajadores Autonomos, RETA) registered an increase of 0.31% in the last month, to 384,825.

In the last twelve months, the affiliation of workers from other countries has increased 9%, that is, by 186,606 people.