Less foreigners in the social security system

THE affiliation of foreigners to social security has fallen 3.84 percent in the Balearic Islands in February, when compared with the same month last year, according to Ministry of Labour and Immigration data released Monday. Of the 56,196 in the archipelago, 35,700 belong to the employment scheme, 11,933 are self-employed, 6,743 are listed as domestic workers, 1,712 are assigned to the agricultural sector and 108 work at sea.

In the whole of Spain, the number of foreigners on the Social Security workers decreased by 7,794 in February from the previous month and stood at 1,769,773, which represents 10.2 per cent of the 17,347,094 subscribers to the system.

Compared to the same month in 2010, the number of members have decreased by 48,212, which is 2.72 per cent less.

Within the general employment scheme, the hospitality sector has the most foreigners registered with Social Security, with 232,586, followed by trade, repair of motor vehicles and bicycles, with 194,356, then the construction sector with 149,774, and  administrative and support service activities with 126,765.

Of the total number of foreigners affiliated with Social Security in February, 653,279 are from the European Union and 1,116,494 are from other countries.

The country that has the largest representation is Romania, with 285,913, followed by Morocco with 212,649, Ecuador with 149,761 and Colombia with 101,203.

In regards to gender; 998,217 were male and 771,556 female.

By region, Catalonia has 22.01 per cent of foreign affiliates, followed by Madrid with 21.7 per cent, Andalucia with 12.02 per cent, and Valencia with 10.96 per cent.

By Nicole Hallett