SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE/MADRID Nov. 5 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Social Security system experienced an increase of 14,076 affiliates in the Canary Islands during October, compared to the prior month, reaching a total of 929,333, representing a rise of 1.6%, as per the data released this Tuesday by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security, and Migration.
In yearly terms, the affiliate count has risen by 33,233 individuals, an increase of 3.71%. By province, Las Palmas welcomed 486,800 contributors this month (+1.77% from the previous month) while Santa Cruz de Tenerife added 442,533 (+1.4%).
Nationally, the number of contributors rose by 134,307 in October compared to the previous month (+0.6%), marking the most substantial increase for this month since 2021, primarily due to a surge in employment in the education sector, which gained more than 166,000 individuals with the commencement of the academic year.
Following the rise in employed individuals recorded in October, the average number of affiliates reached 21,332,513 contributors, a record high for this month in the historical series. The daily contributor count remained above 21.3 million throughout October, except for the last day, which saw a drop of nearly 241,000 contributors.
The increase in affiliates last month is more pronounced than those recorded in October 2023 and 2022, but falls short compared to 2021, which was significantly affected by the pandemic (+159,000 contributors). Excluding this year, October’s performance marks the most considerable increase in membership for this month within the historical series, according to the Ministry.
Over the past year, from October 2023 to October 2024, Social Security has added 514,856 affiliates in average values, representing a year-on-year growth of 2.5%.
Adjusting for seasonal fluctuations, the number of Social Security contributors recorded a monthly rise of 67,772 affiliates (+0.3%), reaching a record total of 21,288,671 contributors.
In the seasonally adjusted series, after experiencing 54 consecutive months of growth in employment, 445,735 jobs have been created in the first ten months of the year, with 1.93 million more compared to December 2019, prior to the pandemic.
MORE THAN 10.1 MILLION AFFILIATES
The growth in membership throughout October was notably higher among women, who gained 106,922 members during the month (+1%), increasing the total number of contributing women to 10,108,783, approaching the record of 10.11 million achieved last June. Consequently, women constitute 47.4% of all workers, marking “the highest percentage of female employment ever recorded,” according to Social Security.
In contrast, male affiliation rose in October by 27,385 men compared to September (+0.2%), bringing the total number of employed men to 11,223,730 individuals.
The Ministry emphasises that since the year before the 2021 labour reform, female employment has surged by 9.8%, outpacing the 7% increase among men. Year-on-year, female affiliation also registered a higher growth of 2.8%, versus 2.2% for males.
The Department led by Elma Saiz highlights that youth employment is also exhibiting an above-average dynamism, with a 17.7% increase since 2021, exceeding the overall growth rate of employed individuals (+8.3%).
Additionally, the average affiliation of foreign workers saw an increase of 10,340 contributors in October, a 0.3% rise from the previous month, totalling 2,894,629 employed individuals, which represents 13.6% of the total contributors in Spain—one million more than at the start of 2018.
Furthermore, the Ministry has pointed out that, over the last decade, the employment of foreigners has escalated at a faster rate than that of nationals.
EDUCATION, THE SECTOR THAT BOOSTED THE MOST EMPLOYMENT IN OCTOBER
By scheme, the General Regime, which is the largest in the system, welcomed an average of 128,812 affiliates in October (+0.7%), totalling 17.88 million employed persons, while the Self-Employed Regime (RETA) gained 7,836 affiliates (+0.2%), resulting in a total of 3,384,917 self-employed contributors.
Within the General Regime, education topped the list for the most significant increase in employment due to the start of the academic year, adding 166,642 contributors compared to the previous month (+15.4%), followed far behind by artistic activities with 16,193 more contributors (+5.3%) and construction, which grew by 11,832 employees (+1.2%).
Among the sectors that saw monthly declines in employment, one of the most frequently impacted by the conclusion of the tourist season was the hospitality sector, which lost 48,106 average affiliates (-3%), followed by healthcare activities, which saw nearly 37,100 employees leave during the month (-1.9%).
In addition, the Special Agrarian System added 9,760 affiliates in October (+1.5%), while the Domestic System recorded a decrease of 559 (-0.1%).
The Ministry has emphasised that the growth in membership relative to the pre-pandemic levels is “especially pronounced” in sectors that offer high added value, including professional, scientific and technical activities, along with information and communications, where employment has increased by nearly 4% so far this year (+76,000 contributors) versus the national average of 2.8%.
MORE THAN 14.7 MILLION WORKERS WITH PERMANENT CONTRACTS
According to the Ministry, Social Security now possesses over 3.7 million more members with permanent contracts compared to before the labour reform came into effect.
Thus, the total count of employees with indefinite contracts has surpassed 14.7 million, with over 9.7 million being full-time roles. Consequently, 57.6% of members hold a full-time contract, up from 49.8% prior to the labour reform.
Moreover, the Ministry notes that the average duration of contracts has increased and the number of days that employees have been without work has risen by 31.8% in the January-October period of this year in comparison to the equivalent timeframe in 2019.
The Department directed by Elma Saiz has indicated that the dynamism of the labour market and the enhancement in employment quality are contributing positively to the sustainability of the pension system, resulting in a contributor-to-pensioner ratio of 2.44, representing “the highest levels since 2011”.
Additionally, the Ministry has noted that, in comparison to major European nations, job creation in Spain has increased by 8% since the end of 2021, outperforming rates in France (+2.2%), Italy (+5.3%) and Germany (+1.7%).
MADRID LEADS THE RISE OF AVERAGE AFFILIATES
Average affiliation increased in October across 12 autonomous communities compared to the previous month, while it fell in five regions, particularly in the Balearic Islands (-34,516 employed) and Castilla-La Mancha (-4,320 contributors).
The most significant advances in employment, in absolute terms, were observed in Madrid, which gained 52,861 members; the Valencian Community (+34,453 contributors) and Andalusia, which added almost 26,700 more employees.
Conversely, the Ministry has reported that at the end of October, there were 9,552 workers subject to temporary employment regulation files (ERTE), of which 8,091 were in an ERTE for economic, technical, organisational, or production reasons (ETOP), while 1,461 were under an ERTE due to force majeure. This number is anticipated to rise next month due to the impact of DANA in the Mediterranean region, particularly in the province of Valencia.