MADRID, 16 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Social Security gained an average of 62,573 foreign affiliates in March, 2.3% more than the previous month, bringing the third month of the year to a close with 2,734,119 immigrant workers registered in the system, a new all-time high. The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration reported this Tuesday.
With the advance of March, the month in which Holy Week was celebrated, the average affiliation of foreigners chained two consecutive months of promotions after gaining almost 40,000 employed people in February.
Discounting seasonality and the calendar effect, the affiliation of foreigners to Social Security increased by 23,388 contributors in March, to a total of 2,785,473 employed persons, a record number in the seasonally adjusted series.
Since February 2020, before the impact of the pandemic, the number of foreign contributors has increased by 596,052 employees, as highlighted by the Ministry headed by Elma Saiz.
As a whole, foreign workers represented 13.2% of the total number of people who were affiliated with Social Security at the end of March.
Of the total number of foreigners affiliated at the end of the third month of the year, 884,882 came from EU countries (32.4%) and 1,849,236 came from third countries (67.6%).
The largest groups of foreign workers are workers from Romania (340,519), Morocco (337,490), Colombia (189,024), Italy (181,143), Venezuela (150,984) and China (114,671).
In addition, the system has 67,846 members from Ukraine, 20,587 more than in January 2022 (43.6%), before the start of the war waged in the country by Russia.
The majority of workers from Ukraine who work in Spain, 85.2%, are salaried and 14.8% are self-employed.
In the last year, the average affiliation of foreign workers has increased by 208,231 employees, which in relative terms implies an increase of 8.2%.
Of the total number of foreign workers, around 1.5 million are men and 1.2 million are women. The Ministry has highlighted that the number of foreign women affiliated with Social Security has grown by 30.5% since before the pandemic, 3.3 points more than men.
THE HOSPITALITY INCREASES FOREIGN EMPLOYMENT BY 7.2%
By regime, the majority of foreigners fall under the General Regime, which closed March with 2,287,519 foreign affiliates, 83.7% of the total and 2.5% more than in February.
For its part, the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (RETA) ended March with 441,594 foreign contributors, 1.3% more than the previous month and 7.1% above the figure for March 2023.
Within the General Regime, the sector that gained the most foreign contributors in March, in relative values, was the hospitality industry, which, coinciding with the celebration of Holy Week, increased its number of foreign employees by 7.2%. This was followed by the supply of electricity (5%) and artistic and entertainment activities (3%).
The Special Agrarian System (which is part of the General Regime) registered a monthly increase in foreign affiliates of 4.3%, while the Home System experienced a decrease of 0.06%.
In interannual values, ten sectors of activity show growth of more than 10%. Hospitality is the activity that has added the most foreign affiliates, with an increase of 13.9%, followed by the supply of electricity (11.1%), health activities (10.9%), commerce (10.7%). , administrative activities (10.7%), financial activities (10.3%) and artistic activities (10.1%).
The Ministry has highlighted that the year-on-year growth is also “very notable” in high added value activities such as information and telecommunications (8.9%) and professional, scientific and technical activities, with an increase in foreign affiliates in the last year of 7 ,4%.
National workers from other countries account for more than 20% of the total number of members in the activities of Extraterritorial organizations and organizations (28.8%), hospitality (26.7%), agriculture (24.4%) and construction (20. 7%). In the Special Household System, 45.4% are foreign workers, and in the Special Agrarian System, 35.7%.
MORE FOREIGN AFFILIATES IN 14 AUTONOMOUS COMMUNITIES
By autonomous community, the average affiliation of foreigners rose in March compared to the previous month in 14 regions and fell in Navarra (-232 contributors), La Rioja (-127 employed) and Castilla-La Mancha (-40 affiliates).
On the promotion side, those in Andalusia (18,982 contributors), Catalonia (11,267) and the Balearic Islands stood out, which added 10,426 foreign employees compared to February.
