What do immigrants work at in Catalonia?

BarcelonaIn recent years, the role of immigration has become central to the country's social debate. And, in economic terms, arguments for and against have suggested that it both enriches and impoverishes us. But, really, what are the jobs that immigrants hold in Catalonia? What type of foreigner has the most weight in each sector? This year's extraordinary regulation has amplified the debate on whether demographic growth will be sustainable in the long term. For the moment, a large part of the business community has not hesitated to position itself in favor, seeing foreign talent as the best way to fill the gaps in the Catalan labor market.

This is the case of the Catalan employers' association for small and medium-sized enterprises, Pimec, which celebrates that a measure of this kind can help reverse the "lack of talent" that currently exists. "Without the arrival of immigrants to our country, the economy would have collapsed," explains to Empreses the general secretary of the SME association, Josep Ginesta. But he also notes that there is currently a great "paradox" in the labor market: "We have the highest unemployment in Europe again, but, on the other hand, our companies have difficulties filling jobs," assures Ginesta.

For this reason, the employers' association applauds the measure, but warns that "it will only be a success if at the end of the process these people have bread, shelter and work." And that, otherwise, groups of people at risk of exclusion will be created. Thus, they point out the need for public policies that accompany, for example, with training. They also indicate that, currently, a large part of the people who are undergoing extraordinary regularization are doing so through a certificate of vulnerability, instead of proving a commitment to hire or a work contract. "We believe that social and business entities should coordinate so that these people approach the labor market," explains Ginesta, who adds that Pimec is currently working hand in hand with municipalities and third-sector entities to help bridge the gap with the business fabric.

Foment del Treball also agrees on the need for more people to enter the Catalan market. Last week, the employers' association presented its quarterly labor report and underlined the importance of immigrants for the business ecosystem. "The economy needs foreigners to continue growing," assured the president of the Commission for Labor Relations and Human Resources of Foment, Luis Pérez. In the study, Foment highlighted that, during the last decade, foreign workers have occupied more than half of the net new employment created in Catalonia. The president of the Commission also valued that, with the extraordinary regularization, there will be a "high percentage" of people who will move to the formal economy.

Profile of the foreign worker

According to data from the first quarter of 2026 from the General Treasury of Social Security (TGSS) collected by the Observatory of Work and the Productive Model of the Generalitat, there are 699,832 foreign workers in Catalan lands. This figure makes Catalonia the territory in the State with the most immigrants in absolute terms, followed by Madrid with 635,826 affiliated immigrants. Andalusia completes the podium, but with a figure far removed: 419,472. This distribution, in relative terms, translates into the fact that more than one in five (22.2%) foreign workers in the entire state territory are located in Catalonia. In the Valencian Country and the Balearic Islands, however, 12.4% and 3.7% work there, respectively.

Regarding the distribution within the country, the majority of migrants with jobs locate their workplace in the province of Barcelona, where up to 74% of the Catalan total is concentrated. The rest are distributed among Girona (11%), Tarragona (8%), and Lleida (7%). These proportions follow very similar patterns to the existing demographic distribution in the Principality, where Barcelona also concentrates around 75% of the population, while the rest of the territories have fewer inhabitants. Of the 699,832 foreign workers in all of Catalonia, 196,070 come from European Union countries, while 503,762 are from the rest of the world.

Countries with the most workers

If we look at the origin of each foreign worker, according to data released by the Observatory of Work, the significant weight of those from Morocco (84,992) and Italy (62,094) stands out. However, both countries contribute different worker profiles: while 5.82% of affiliated Moroccans have a job in the agricultural sector, only 0.05% of Italians are dedicated to it. On the other hand, 16.13% of those from Italy are self-employed, while the relative half of Moroccans – 8.85% – opt for this regime.

Italian data, in fact, are very similar to the figures presented by the rest of the European Union countries, with one exception: Romania, the third foreign country that contributes the most workers to the Catalan territory (47,575). Its case is different because it contributes a much higher proportion of workers who are dedicated to the agricultural sector (3.89%) and domestic work (2.93%).

Furthermore, Chinese workers also have a peculiarity that makes them unique within the Catalan labor market. Those from China are the only ones who have more self-employed workers (53.78%) than employees in the general regime. To understand the magnitude of this data, the second country of origin with the highest volume of self-employed workers in relative terms is France, with 23.63%. If we compare it with other countries outside the European Union, the second nationality with the most self-employed workers is Pakistan (18.97%).

Regarding the domestic sector, the data shows a very relevant weight of workers among those from Honduras. Specifically, 20.35% of the country's employees in Catalonia work in the domestic sector. It is followed by Peru, where 6.99% of its workers are also dedicated to it. Romania completes the podium, with 2.93% of its affiliates working in the sector.

Sectors with more immigrants

When observing the weight of immigrants compared to the total number of workers in each sector, agriculture stands out as the only one where foreigners are a majority compared to those of Spanish nationality. Specifically, 68.96% of those who work in Catalonia are from outside Spanish borders, as indicated by data from the TGSS. Looking in more detail, it is detected that, of the total, 58.03% are people coming from outside the European Union; while 10.93% come from countries within the Union. Regarding domestic work, 40.7% of those who work there are from outside European borders, although the total number of foreigners rises to 44.36%.

Another sector where foreign workers have a significant presence is hospitality. Of the total affiliates working in this sector, 29.68% are immigrants from outside the EU and 7.08% are from the European Union as a whole. In contrast, immigrant affiliates have a much smaller presence in industrial jobs, representing only 14.03% of workers in industry – both extractive and manufacturing.

Salaries by origin

The concentration of different migrants in one sector or another also affects wages. According to data from the Observatory of Work and the Productive Model from the Continuous Sample of Working Lives (MCVL) – a set of individual data on affiliations or Social Security pensioners, randomly selected and anonymized, completed with information from the continuous municipal register and the summary of IRPF withholdings –, the average salary of migrants from the European Union is much higher than that of the rest of the world. Specifically, in 2024 – the last recorded data – the average annual salary of Europeans in Catalonia stood at 35,611.45 euros, while those from outside the European bloc had an average remuneration of 22,093.05 euros. However, this data also includes pensioners and, therefore, does not only reflect the jobs occupied by each group.

Regarding the evolution of salaries over the last ten years, it has been similar in both groups: the remuneration of those from the EU has grown by 50.62%, while that of those from the rest of the world has grown by 49.34%. The increase, however, has not been the same for workers of Spanish nationality. In fact, in Catalonia, the salaries of this group have only increased by 31.10% in the last decade. This has led to the average salary of European immigrants currently being above that of Spanish citizens, which is 32,658.53 euros.

Unemployment and Activity

The latest Active Population Survey (EPA) placed the unemployment rate in Catalonia above the 10% barrier for the first time since 2023. Specifically, it raised the coefficient to 10.1% after the worst first quarter in recent years. However, if we look at the unemployed by origin, the figure for unemployed foreigners stands out. While the unemployment rate among the population with Spanish nationality is 7.7%, for foreigners it soars to 18.6%. The situation becomes even more serious if we focus on immigrant women, who are the ones who have the most difficulty finding work (20.3%).

Regarding activity – that is, people between 16 and 64 years old who work or are looking for work –, the difference between sexes among foreigners stands out. Migrant women (72.2%) are the least active group, while men without Spanish nationality (82.3%) are the most active. The data for non-foreign men and women stand at 81% and 76.6%, respectively.