La Seguridad Social registra un nuevo récord con más de 3.248.000 afiliados extranjeros, tras un aumento de casi 100.000 en el último mes
14/05/2026
Labour market
Social Security records a new record with more than 3,248,000 foreign affiliates, after an increase of almost 100,000 in the last month
Topics:
- Contributors from other countries account for 14.7% of the total average Social Security affiliates
- The number of self-employed increases by 6.8% year-on-year and exceeds 512,000
- Foreign workers with a temporary contract fall to historical lows and the temporary rate stands at 11.3%
- The registration of affiliates of Moroccan origin exceeds 400,000. It is followed in quantity by those of Romania (347,000) and Colombia (276,000)
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Minister Elma Saiz: “It is very noteworthy that they are gaining more and more weight among entrepreneurs working in the Telecommunications and Computer Programming sector, where they already represent 32% of the employed”
Thursday, May 14, 2026.- Social Security has once again registered a new record of foreign affiliates both in the original series, medium, and in seasonally adjusted terms. Specifically, there are 3,248,247 affiliates on average in April, which is 96,684 more occupied than in the previous month and 250,939 more than a year ago. This figure puts the year-on-year variation at 8.4%, when the year-on-year variation in global membership is 2.4%.
If the seasonality and the effect of the calendar are discounted, Social Security already has 3,233,241 foreign affiliates, after adding 249,780 in the last 12 months.
“The success of our labor market goes hand in hand with the increase in the affiliation of foreigners in our Social Security System, since they already represent 14.7% of the contributors. We also see that its presence is increasingly diversified in a greater number of sectors. It is very noteworthy that they gain more weight among the entrepreneurs who work in Telecommunications and Computer Programming, where they already represent 32% of the employed”, explains Minister Elma Saiz.
Overall, the number of foreign affiliates has totaled more than 890,000 employed since April 2022. In fact, 42.9% of the employment created since the implementation of the labor reform corresponds to foreign workers.
Average affiliation
Of the 3,250,000 foreign affiliates, 1.85 million are men, while the number of women exceeds 1.4 million for the first time. The presence of working women from other countries is increasing overall and represents 43.1% of the total number of foreign workers.
About 30% of foreign affiliates come from European Union countries.
Morocco continues to be the country with the most social security affiliates and already exceeds 400,000 contributors (404,402). It is followed by Romania (346,719), Colombia (275,695), Venezuela (224,428), Italy (214,970), China (129,207), Peru (109,146) and Ukraine (81,707).
Of these nationalities, the increase in Venezuelan affiliates stands out, which have multiplied by 10 in the last decade.
Sectors of employed persons
Although they represent 14.7 per cent of all workers, the contribution of foreign workers is particularly relevant in some sectors of the General Social Security System. In Hospitality, they represent 29.8% of the members; in Agriculture, 27.1%; in Construction, they represent 24.6%; in Transport, 17.7%; and in Administrative Activities, 17.7%. In addition, in the Special Household System, they account for 43.5% and in the Agrarian System, 40.7%.
In addition, it is necessary to highlight the high percentage of foreign workers with indefinite contracts, 88.7% of the total. If we compare it with the average percentage of the period 2017-2021, prior to the labor reform (58.9%) the data is even more striking.
In parallel, the temporary rate of this group of workers falls to historical lows, with the percentage of foreign affiliates with temporary contracts falling to 11.3%, also below that of nationals (11.6%). That percentage contrasts with the average for the period 2017-2021, which reached 41.1% of the total.
Entrepreneurship in highly qualified sectors
On the other hand, the number of self-employed workers continues to grow and stands at 512,653, which is 6.8% more than a year ago.
We must point out the growing presence of foreign workers who undertake in highly qualified sectors such as Telecommunications and Computer Programming, where they already represent 32% of the employed registered in this section of activity, that is, they are already one in three entrepreneurs. Also very important is its representation in other activities, such as Household Activities (26.3%), Hotel Management (25.3%), Real Estate Activities (18.4%) or Administrative Activities (18.3%).
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