The Department of Social Security registered 2,500,677 foreign workers in Spain, including the Canary Islands, as of December 2022, which is 14,780 more foreign workers than in November, meaning an increase of 194,013 throughout the year. This is far less than the month before the pandemic, February 2020, when an increase of 311,256 workers from other countries was registered in a month.
A closer analysis of this data reveals that 12.3% of the total Social Security contributions were paid by foreigners in December. Of these, 33.6% (826,806) are from European Union countries, and 66.4% (1,633,913) are from third countries including the UK. In addition, 56.2% are men and 43.8% are women
According to the data, the largest number of foreign workers comes from Romania which accounts for 330,857 people; 305,428 are from Morocco; 158,635 from Italy; 127,891 from Colombia; and 125,201 from Venezuela.
The figures also reveal that in the last twelve months, the average affiliation of workers from other countries has increased by 8.4%, that is, the number of employed foreigners has increased by 190,913 people.
According to statistics, 83.3% of foreign contributors to Social Security are employed (General Regime), and 16.7% are self-employed (Autonomo).
As for the sector that saw the most growth during December 2022, Public Administration grew by 2.2%, on the other hand, Hospitality fell by -1.7% and Construction by -1.6%. Meanwhile, employment in tourism closed 2022 exceeding 2.4 million employed, the highest number since records began.
