Growth of Foreign Self-Employed Workers in Spain
As of March 13, 2026, Spain has witnessed a remarkable increase in the number of foreign self-employed individuals, reaching over 500,000—a 6% rise compared to the previous year. This surge is particularly pronounced in highly skilled sectors such as Telecommunications and Computer Programming. Among the foreign workers contributing to the Spanish Social Security system, Morocco leads with the highest number of affiliates, followed closely by Romania, Colombia, and Venezuela. In February alone, the Social Security system registered a total of 3,076,841 foreign affiliates, marking an increase of 202,443 over the last twelve months, with an impressive year-on-year growth rate exceeding 7%.
Since February 2022, the total number of foreign affiliates has exceeded 800,000, highlighting that 43.7% of the jobs created since the implementation of labor reform have been filled by foreign workers. Month-on-month, the Social Security system recorded an increase of 38,683 foreign workers, with foreign nationals now accounting for 14.2% of all contributors to the Social Security fund—an increase of six-tenths compared to the previous year. When accounting for seasonal adjustments and calendar effects, the number of employed individuals from other countries rose by 22,221 in the last month, reaching a total of 3,181,111 foreign affiliates.
Significance of Foreign Workers in the Spanish Labor Market
The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration, Elma Saiz, remarked on the current dynamism in Spain's labor market, attributing a significant role to foreign workers. Their substantial involvement in the overall number of affiliates reflects the vibrancy of the Spanish economy and the effective integration of foreign nationals into the labor market. Breaking down the demographics, nearly 1.8 million of the foreign affiliates are men, while women surpass 1.3 million, representing 42.6% of the total foreign workforce. Approximately 30% of these foreign affiliates hail from European Union countries, underscoring the diverse origins of the labor force.
Notably, the number of Venezuelan workers has seen the most significant growth over the past year, with an increase of 35,289 affiliates compared to February 2025. Over the past decade, the number of Venezuelans registered with Social Security has increased ninefold. Similarly, there has been a substantial rise in Colombian workers, increasing fourfold, along with a 2.5-fold increase in Peruvian workers. Morocco continues to have the highest number of Social Security affiliates, with 375,845, followed by Romania (336,214), Colombia (252,869), Venezuela (213,476), Italy (203,562), China (125,764), Peru (101,559), and Ukraine (78,824).
The contribution of foreign workers is particularly noteworthy in various sectors of the General Regime of Social Security. In hospitality, they represent 28.9% of affiliates; in agriculture, 26.8%; in construction, 24%; in transportation, 17.7%; and in administrative activities, 17.4%. In the Special Home System, they make up 42.4%, while in agriculture, they account for 37.9%. Furthermore, it is essential to highlight the high percentage of foreign workers with permanent contracts, standing at 88.7%—even higher than that of national workers at 88.4%. This statistic is striking when compared to the average from 2017 to 2021, prior to labor reforms, which was only 58.9%.
Meanwhile, the rate of temporary contracts among this group of workers has fallen to historical lows, with only 11.3% of foreign affiliates holding temporary positions—again lower than the 11.6% for nationals. This figure starkly contrasts with the average rate of 41.1% during the period from 2017 to 2021. The growth of foreign affiliation is particularly pronounced in self-employment, surpassing 500,000 workers in February (500,037), reflecting a 6% increase compared to the same month in 2025, significantly outpacing the overall growth of the self-employed sector, which stands at only 1.1%.
There is a notable trend of increasing numbers of foreign workers venturing into highly skilled sectors such as Telecommunications, Computer Programming, and Publishing, Broadcasting, and Content Production. The number of foreign self-employed individuals in Telecommunications alone has surged by 10.7% over the past year, while in Publishing Activities, the growth rate is 9.22%.
As reported by lamoncloa.gob.es.
