Seven out of every ten new jobs in Spain are held by foreigners

Take a look at the data: of every ten jobs added to the Social Security system in the last year, seven were filled by people born outside Spain. That’s the state of foreign enrollment, which is growing at a rate five times faster than that of the system as a whole.

Look at the figures. The national average for enrollment is growing at about 3.1% year-over-year; for workers from other countries, it’s 15.72%. In August alone, the system gained 39,535 foreign contributors compared to the previous month and reached an all-time high: 3,551,759. That’s nearly 483,000 more than twelve months earlier. In total, Spain gained 679,023 new contributors over the year, and most of them came from the migrant population. Today, they account for nearly 16% of the total—two percentage points more than a year ago.

The regularization process launched by the government last April is the main driver of this surge. Since it began, nearly 340,000 employed individuals have been added to the system, and there are still nearly 1.2 million applications pending. The broader picture is that of a labor market in which, since mid-2022, the number of foreign workers has increased by more than 1.2 million. Half of the jobs created since the labor reform are attributable to them.

Economists are urging caution before getting too excited. BBVA Research points out that some of the newly registered workers were already employed in the informal economy and are now simply appearing in the official records. Funcas points to a fundamental slowdown in domestic employment. And at Fedea, they emphasize that this increase is evident in Social Security data but not as much in the Labor Force Survey, where many were already counted as employed. That said, no one sees a near-term ceiling for the foreign workforce.

And who does all this matter to? You, above all, if you’re processing paperwork or looking for a job with a pending work permit. The sectors driving foreign employment remain the same: hospitality, agriculture, and construction. In those sectors, foreign workers already account for nearly a third of all Social Security registrations. If you have a pending application, check its status on the online portal and don’t miss the deadlines for correcting any issues. A document not submitted on time can derail your case. Take action.

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