Spain: 18,990,364 People Contribute To Social Security System In October, Up 113,974 On September

The average number of national insurance contributors in October stood at 18,990,364, a rise of 113,974 on September (up 0.6%). This is the sixth straight month that the social security system has enjoyed a rise in contributor numbers since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As was the case in the last two months, more women joined the system in October than men: 99,970 additional women compared with 14,004 additional men. Men account for 53.38% of all contributors.

In seasonally-adjusted terms, corrected to offset the calendar effect, the system also posts a positive balance, recording 45,365 more contributors in October. This is an increase of 0.23% on September to a total of 18,951,589.

Furthermore, in accumulated figures between 1 and 31 October, the number of national insurance contributors grew by 142,555, to close the month with 18,986,284 contributors, despite the usual fall on the last day of the month (down 45,569 contributors on 30 October).

Taking into account the figure on the last working day of October, more than half of contributors lost at the toughest times of the pandemic have now been recovered. On 30 October, there were 589,922 more contributors than on 30 April, the last day of the month, on which the lowest number of registered workers was recorded as a result of the health crisis stemming from COVID-19, at 18,396,362.

Compared with October 2019, the system has lost 439,628 contributors. However, the year-on-year rate stood at -2.26%, a better rate than at the worst point of the pandemic, when it stood at -4.58%.

Compared with September

The average number of contributors rose in October by 113,974 compared with the average in September (up 0.6%). Contributor numbers have continued recovering following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a trend that began in May, and which has now registered six straight months.

Specifically, monthly contributors under the General Regime rose in October to 15,661,201 (up 0.73%), an increase of 113,669. Without the Special Systems for Agricultural Workers (up by 2,839) and Domestic Workers (up by 3,249), 107,580 more contributors were registered under the General Regime in October, to give a total of 14,553,803.

Education was the sector posting the largest increase. This sector posted a rise of 135,032 more workers under the General Regime than in the previous month, up 16.27%. Growth was also recorded in Artistic, Recreational and Entertainment Activities, with 8,766 more contributors (up 3.94%), Public Administration and Defence, with 27,084 more contributors (up 2.44%), Construction, with 10,488 more contributors (up 1.22%) and Manufacturing Industry, with 6,826 more contributors (up 0.37%).

In contrast, the largest decline was registered in Hotel and Catering, which posted 85,077 fewer contributors (down 7.1%). There were also losses in Health Activities and Social Services, with 15,341 fewer contributors (down 0.92%), Crop and Livestock Farming, and Fishing, with 2,453 fewer contributors (down 3.11%) this month.

The Regime for Self-Employed Workers posted 3,265,369 average contributors, following an increase of 1,816 in the month (up 0.06%), a higher number than the figure recorded in February before the outbreak of the pandemic. The Regime for Seamen posted 62,645 contributors, 1,482 fewer than in September (down 2.31%), and the Regime for Coal Workers stood at 1,149 contributors on average (down 28).

Most of the autonomous regions posted rises over the last month. There were noteworthy increases in the Region of Valencia (up 2.26%), Murcia (up 1.61%) and the Basque Country (up 1.31%). Only three regions saw declines in contributor numbers: the Balearic Islands (down 11.79%), Castile-La Mancha (down 1.04%) and Extremadura (down 0.62%).

Comparison with 2019

The Spanish social security system lost 439,628 contributors (down 2.26%) over the last year. In June, at the time of the largest decline year-on-year, the loss amounted to 893,360 contributors, at a year-on-year rate of 4.58%. Murcia, which saw a year-on-year rise of 0.76% and Castile-La Mancha, with a rise of 0.09%, posted the largest year-on-year increases. The rest of the regions posted declines, particularly the Balearic Islands (down 17.64%).

The General Regime posted 429,445 fewer contributors than in October 2019 (down 2.67%). This figure includes the 10,422 contributors lost from the Special System for Agricultural Workers and the 19,097 from the Special System for Domestic Workers.

In turn, the Special Regime for Self-employed Workers posted 6,607 fewer contributors than it did a year ago (down 0.2%). The Special Regime for Seamen posted a decline of 3,395 (down -5.14%) and the Special Regime for Coal Workers posted a decline of 180 contributors (down 13.54%).