Amnesty Significantly Eases Seasonal Pressure on Labor Market
According to the latest statistics from Spain’s Ministry of Social Security, an immigrant regularization process launched this April has had an immediate positive impact on the labor market. Data shows that as of August 31, the program has enabled 337,900 previously unregistered foreigners to successfully register and begin contributing to social security.
This new influx of workers has effectively cushioned the traditional “Black August” in Spain’s labor market. Historically, August is a month of significant job losses due to holidays. Compared to an average loss of 180,000 to 190,000 social security affiliations in recent years, this August saw a decrease of only 160,000, making it one of the mildest declines in years, a success largely attributed to the immigration amnesty.
Latin American Immigrants Form the Core of New Social Security Contributors
An analysis of the new contributors’ countries of origin reveals that immigrants from Latin America are the main force in this regularization wave. Colombians represent the largest group with 97,400 individuals, followed by Venezuelans with 66,700. Immigrants from these two countries alone account for nearly half of the total new social security affiliations.
With the addition of this new workforce, the total number of foreign workers contributing to social security in Spain has climbed to 3.55 million. Compared to the same period last year, the number of foreign contributors has surged by 482,400, a year-on-year increase of 15.72%. Immigrants now represent 15.9% of all contributors to the social security system.
Second Quarter Economic Data Shows Positive Trends
The second-quarter economic report from Spain’s Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria) also corroborates the improvement in the labor market. The report shows that employment in large and medium-sized enterprises grew by 3.6% year-on-year in Q2, a faster pace than in the first quarter. The Tax Agency noted in its report that while it is not yet possible to precisely isolate the cause from macro data, the improvement in the job market “may be partly related to the immigration amnesty implemented in April.”
Matching the job growth, wage levels in the second quarter increased by 3.5% year-on-year, maintaining a stable growth trend similar to the first quarter.
Export Recovery Drives Overall Sales Growth
Business activity also showed increased vitality in the second quarter. According to Tax Agency statistics, total corporate sales grew by 3.4% year-on-year, an increase of more than one percentage point compared to the first quarter’s growth rate.
This growth was primarily driven by a strong expansion in exports. Data shows that exports grew by 3.8% year-on-year in the second quarter, the best performance since the first quarter of 2023. Exports to EU countries were particularly strong, with growth accelerating by nearly two percentage points to 4.4%. Meanwhile, exports to non-EU third countries also reversed their previous decline, returning to a positive growth of 3.2%. In contrast, domestic sales grew by 3.2% year-on-year, maintaining a relatively stable pace.
