21/03/2013 00:00
TW
0
STAFF REPORTER

MADRID
THE number of foreigners paying social security contributions in Spain rose by 37'491 last month.
There are now over two million non-Spanish residents affiliated to the social security in the country. In the Balearics, one of the regions of Spain with the highest number of foreign residents per capita, there are 71'449 people contributing.

Of those who started paying in February, 22'707 are from EU countries, an increase of 3.3 percent, while 14'784 are from outside the EU, an increase of 1.1 percent.

Of those from outside the European Union, more than a third are either from Ecuador or Morocco (527'846), followed by Colombia (143'430), Peru (78'578), China (63'375), Argentina (54'545), Bolivia (51'667), Ukraine (39'468), the Dominican Republic (33'477) and Cuba (23'692).

According to figures released yesterday by the Department of Employment and Social Affairs, over one in four foreigners contributing to social security work in the construction industry.