Michael Coy
OF all the new jobs created in Spain in 2024, two out of five went to non-Spaniards.
On Thursday (30 January) the Spanish Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration published a report which strongly suggests that immigrants are acquiring employment positions at a rate out of proportion to their percentage of the population.
Half a million jobs were created last year, and 40% of them went to non-Spaniards. The Ministry’s own figures state that foreigners constitute little more than 10% of the overall population.
The growth areas in the job market are construction and hospitality (hotels and bars), and what the Ministry terms “information and communication”.
At a press conference held in Madrid, Minister Elma Saiz described these results as “extraordinarily positive” and, in her opinion, this growth “shows that well-designed migration policies can generate benefits for society, contributing in an exceptional way to the positive transformation of the Spanish economy”.
The simple truth is, Spain needs workers. The Bank of Spain has published statistics which indicate that the country can’t continue as it is, unless a quarter of a million new workers arrive every year.
These new workers pay into the pension funds through their tax deductions. Spain’s Labour Party, the PSOE, says that “the commitment to talent and the employability of the migrant population as a lever for prosperity” is one of the “fundamental pillars” of government policy.
At the press conference, Señora Saiz was joined by Borja Suárez and Pilar Cancela (respectively, the ministers for Social Security and Migration).
Señora Cancela said that “access to the labour market is one of the main objectives of people who migrate from their countries of origin to others in search of a better future.”
She added that “Spain is today, fortunately, a thriving country, a country of opportunities, unlike what happened years ago when successive crises forced our young people and families to emigrate from this country and seek a better future outside our borders. Now we see how Spain is a pole of attraction for investments, talent and economic growth.”
According to data from the latest Active Population Survey (EPA), at the end of last year there were 21,859,900 people working in Spain, a new historical record of employment in the country.
In addition, in the last quarter of 2024, the unemployment rate fell to 10.6%, the lowest figure in the last 16 years.
Government statistics show that almost half of the foreigners living and working in Spain came originally from Latin America.
Young immigrants from non-EU countries (like Britain) make up a quarter of all new workers. More men than women are arriving in Spain (56%, as against 44%). The Spanish work force breaks down slightly differently (52% men, 48% women).
The geographical distribution of foreigners working in Spain has hardly changed in recent years and continues to be concentrated in the eastern half and in the centre of the peninsula, as well as in the islands.
Thus, provinces such as Asturias, León, Zamora, Salamanca, Cáceres or Badajoz are those with the lowest percentage of foreign workers compared to the total.
There are currently 7,000,000 foreigners residing in Spain, which represents an increase of 1,600,000 people since 2018. In general, the country has experienced a population growth of 4.2% in the last six years, going from 48.6 million inhabitants in 2018 to 48.8 million in 2024.
Since 2018, the population has grown at a much faster rate than that of the countries around us, 4.2% compared to 2.1% in France or compared to Italy, which is losing population.
