What do immigrants work as in Catalonia?

BarcelonaIn recent years, the role of immigration has been placed right at the center of 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 more weight in each sector? This year's extraordinary regulation has amplified the debate on whether demographic growth will or will not be sustainable in the long term. For now, 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 association of 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," the general secretary of the SME association, Josep Ginesta, explains to l'Empreses, but he also notes that there is currently a great "paradox" in the labor market: "We have the largest unemployment in Europe again, but, on the other hand, our companies have difficulties in filling job positions," 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 availing themselves of the extraordinary regularization are doing so through the certificate of vulnerability, instead of providing proof of 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 city councils and third-sector entities to help bridge the gap with the business community.

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 stressed the importance of immigrants for the business ecosystem. “The economy needs foreigners to continue growing”, assured the president of Foment's Commission for Labor Relations and Human Resources, Luis Pérez. In the study, Foment highlighted that, during the last decade, foreign workers have occupied more than half of the new net employment created in Catalonia. The president of the Commission also valued that, with the extraordinary regularization, there will be an “elevated percentage” of people who will move to the formal economy.

Profile of the foreign worker

According to the data from the first quarter of 2026 from the General Treasury of Social Security (TGSS) collected by the Observatory of Work and Productive Model of the Generalitat, in Catalan lands there are 699,832 foreign workers. The figure makes Catalonia the territory of the State with the most immigrants in absolute terms, followed by Madrid with 635,826 affiliated immigrants. Andalusia completes the podium, but with a very distant figure: 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, in contrast, 12.4% and 3.7% work, respectively.

Regarding the distribution within the country, the majority of employed migrants locate their workplace in the demarcation 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 demographic distribution existing 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.

The countries with the most workers

If we look at the origin of each foreign worker, according to the data released by the Observatory of Work, the large weight of those from Morocco (84,992) and Italy (62,094) stands out. However, both countries provide different profiles of workers: while 5.82% of affiliated Moroccans have employment 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% – are covered by this regime.

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

On the other hand, 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 the data, the second country of origin with the largest 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 significant 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 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 working in Catalonia are from outside Spanish borders, as indicated by TGSS data. If we look in more detail, it is detected that, of the total, 58.03% are people from outside the European Union; while 10.93% come from European Union countries. 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 weight is hospitality. Of the total affiliates dedicated to this, 29.68% are immigrants from outside the EU and 7.08% are from the European bloc. In contrast, immigrant affiliates have a much lower weight in industrial jobs and only represent 14.03% of industry workers – both extractive and manufacturing.

Salaries by origin

The concentration of different migrants in one sector or another also impacts salaries. According to data from the Observatory of Labor and Productive Model based on the Continuous Sample of Working Lives (MCVL) – a set of individual data on affiliations or pensioners of the Social Security, 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 was €35,611.45, while those from outside the European bloc had an average remuneration of €22,093.05. However, this data also includes pensioners and, therefore, does not solely 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 resulted in the average salary of European immigrants now being higher than that of Spanish citizens, which is €32,658.53.

Unemployment and Activity

The latest active population survey (EPA) placed the unemployment rate in Catalonia above the 10% mark for the first time since 2023. Specifically, it raised the coefficient to 10.1% after the worst first quarter in recent years. If we look at unemployed people by origin, however, the figure of unemployed among foreigners stands out. While the unemployment rate among the population with Spanish nationality stands at 7.7%, the foreign population soars to 18.6%. The situation is further aggravated if we focus on immigrant women, who have the most difficulty finding work (20.3%).

Regarding activity – that is, people between 16 and 64 years old who are working or looking for employment – the difference between the sexes of 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.