26/09/2013 00:00
TW
0
Staff Reporter

PALMA
AN average of 97'503 foreigners in the Balearics paid Social Security contributions in August.
This is an increase of 9.1 percent in comparison with the same month in 2006 (8'174 more contributors), according to figures published yesterday by the Spanish Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, which said that as at August 31 there were 95'587 foreign contributors on the islands, which is 4.8 percent of the national total.

Of the total contributors, 76'268 pay into the General Fund (78.2 percent), 14'384 into the Special Fund for Self Employed People (14.7 percent), and 5'684 into the Special Fund for the Home (5.8 percent).

Throughout the whole of Spain the number of foreign contributors to Social Security decreased by 1.43 percent in comparison with July (28'988 less workers), which brings the total of foreigners contributing to the system to 1'986'409.

At the height of the tourist season, the catering sector was the main sector employing foreigners in August in the Balearics. This sector had 29'688 foreigners, which was 39.9 percent of the total contributors. This was followed by the construction sector with 13'612 foreigners in August, 18.3 percent of the total contributors.

Of the total working foreigners contributing to the system on the islands at the end of August, 43'971 were citizens of European Union countries, while 51'616 came from countries outside of the EU.

Among the workers from European Union countries, German workers were the major contributors (10'950), followed by the British (7'872), the Italians (7'345) and the Polish (2'690).

Of the foreigners who came from countries outside the EU, those from Ecuador were the main contributors (9'812), followed by those from Morocco (7'516), Colombia (6'064) and Argentina (5'626).

In August, Catalonia and Madrid continued to be the regions which had almost half of the foreign workers paying Social Security contributions, having between them 44.36 percent of all foreign workers. In fact, as at August 31 Catalonia had 452'695 foreign contributors (22.79 percent), while in Madrid the figure was 428'523 (21.57 percent of the total).

After these two regions came Valencia with 230'011 foreign contributors (11.5 percent of the total), Andalucia with 198'799 (10 percent), the Canaries with 97'286 (4.9 percent), the Balearics with 95'587 (4.8 percent), and Murcia with 98'819 (4.7 percent).