Average number of foreign citizens registered with Spanish Social Security system stands at 1,711,858 in December

The year-on-year rate of foreign workers rose by 5.16%, the highest increase in a month of December since 2007, which equates to 84,020 more workers than in 2015.

The highest figures for foreign workers contributing to the Social Security system correspond to Romania (307,597), Morocco (217,168), China (97,664), Italy (84,245) and Ecuador (67,249). These countries are followed by the United Kingdom (59,527), Bulgaria (53,674), Colombia (50,552), and Bolivia (49,137).

Autonomous regions

In month-on-month terms, the highest increases in foreign National Insurance contributors were posted in Andalusia (up 6.36%), Castile-La Mancha (up 2.28%) and La Rioja (up 1.26%). In year-on-year terms, there were increases in foreign National Insurance contributors in all the autonomous regions except Extremadura (down 1.4%) and Asturias (down 0.55%).

The figures posted for December show that 996,431 of the total foreign citizens registered with the Spanish Social Security system are from countries outside of the European Union, while the remaining 715,427 are from EU countries.

The majority of foreign citizens are registered under the General Regime: 1,429,728 in total, a figure that includes the Special System for Agricultural Workers (215,110) and the Special System for Domestic Workers (189,438). This is followed by the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers (278,567), the Special Regime for Seamen (3.363) and the Special Regime for Coal Workers (199).

Of the total foreign citizens in the system in December, 956.432 are men and 755.426 are women.