The number of foreign workers in the Balearics on the rise

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma22/09/2015 00:00

The number of foreign workers signed on with the social security system in the Balearics increased 6.2% compared to August 2014, which brought the total to 94,223. By comparison, the increase compared with July was fractional - up by 0.4% (414 more signed on).

The percentage rise over last August in the Balearics was the largest of all regions of Spain, with Aragon and the Basque Country having registered increases that placed them in second and third slots with 5.7% and 5.1% more respectively. For the country as a whole, the rise was almost 4% - over 60,000 more foreign workers, which was the highest increase since 2008.

But the national picture when comparing August with July was rather different, as there was a one per cent fall. Nevertheless, the total was well over 1.6 million.

Of this total 970,000 were workers from outside the European Union. Of these there were almost 190,000 Moroccans and over 93,000 Chinese. Of EU countries, Romania contributed just under 285,000 and Italy almost 80,000. The figure for the UK was 53,588.