At a time when immigration is an increasingly polarising issue in Spain, a new report has highlighted that the country will need over 2 million workers in the next decade alone to ensure pensions and economic productivity, with the vast majority forecast to be foreigners.
Spain will need to incorporate 2.4 million people into the labour market over the next decade to maintain economic productivity and prop up the pensions system, a new report has revealed.
Current migration trends suggest that almost all of these jobs will be filled by migrants due to demographic ageing among native Spaniards, making migrants “essential” to meet the demand, experts say.
READ ALSO: Spain’s population keeps increasing due to immigration
This is according to the study “Migratory Reality in Spain” prepared by the Economic and Social Council (CES) and delivered on Wednesday by its president, Antón Costas, to Spain’s Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz.
This comes at a time when immigration in Spain has, like in countries across Europe and much of the world, become an increasingly polarising political issue. Far-right Vox has in recent years escalated the rhetoric on immigration and polling data shows the party is taking voters from the centre-right People’s Party, shifting the debate rightward.
Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is one of the few international leaders making the case for immigration, linking it to Spain’s above average economic growth in the post-pandemic period.
Today, the foreign born population already represents around a fifth of the resident population in Spain, which is why it has and will become increasingly important for sustaining economic growth, employment and pensions, the latter of which is forecast to come under strain due to the impending retirement of the baby boomer generation.
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Demographic forecasts suggest that the native Spanish population will decline proportionally in the coming decades. If forecasting models from Spain’s national stats body (INE) are accurate, this would mean that the Spanish-born population will see a steady decline and fall from 84.5 percent, the proportion of the population currently, to 63.5 percent within 50 years.
To put that statistic in other words, by 2072 36.5 percent of people resident in Spain, a little over one in three, will be born in another country.
READ ALSO: Older and more diverse – What Spain’s population will be like in 50 years
Three out of every four new jobs created since 2019 have been filled by migrants. Migrants are also boosting population figures, with the vast majority of population growth down to foreigners in recent years.
READ ALSO: Spain’s population reaches record 49.4 million thanks to immigration
Saiz said this week when presenting the report: “The Spanish migration model generates shared prosperity, and we are not the only ones to say so: our migration policy is recognised in Europe and beyond as an example of balance, efficiency and humanity, and part of this success lies in a conviction: public policies must be based on knowledge.”
For his part, Costas stressed that “since 2019, the immigration cycle in Spain has entered a more mature phase. After the peak reached in 2024, the pace of growth has moderated in 2025 and is tending to slow down. The impacts of immigration on growth, employment, productivity and demographics are very positive, favoured by the reforms of the Immigration Regulation in 2022 and 2024.”
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Though major provincial capitals like Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia have long been home to working migrant populations, foreign workers are increasingly making up an important part of the social security system in regions of the country facing the greatest demographic challenge.
According to the latest data provided by Social Security, foreign workers account for 10.4 percent of the total in Castile y León, for example, 7.4 percent in Asturias and 7.1 percent in Galicia, areas where natives tend to emigrate to other regions with greater job opportunities and migrant communities.
Over the year, foreign employment grew by 7.3 percent, reaching an all-time high in the number of migrant self-employed with more than 494,000 registered autónomos.
Highly qualified jobs also grew by 27 percent in information and communications and by 18.8 percent in scientific and technical professions.
READ ALSO: Why Spain needs millions more migrants, not less
