Social Security incorporated on average 186,612 affiliates in October with respect to September (+0.8%), the largest increase recorded in an October since records began. This strong advance is explained, mainly, by the start of the school year and by the process of regularizing immigrants. As a result, the average number of employed people reached a new maximum at the end of the month, with 22,624,165 contributors, as the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations reported this Wednesday.
The boost from the extraordinary immigration regularization procedure, which has added more than 490,000 new contributors up to the end of October, together with the increase of more than 165,000 jobs in the education sector, has allowed the average rise in affiliation in October to be the highest for this month across the entire series.
In recent years, the most intense rebound in an October occurred in 2021, when the system gained something more than 159,000 employed people, while in 2025 the increase was around 142,000 affiliates.
In the year-on-year comparison, from October 2025 to the same month in 2026, Social Security has added 784,573 contributors on average, which represents an advance of 3.59% and an acceleration in the pace of job creation. If 2018 is taken as a reference, average affiliation has increased by more than 3.63 million workers (3,631,092).
The Ministry highlights the vigorous performance of employment over the last eight years, noting that employment remains at record levels, supported both by the increase in female employment and by the greater presence of young and older workers in the labor market.
In seasonally adjusted terms, the number of contributors grew by 90,309 people in October, bringing the total figure to a new high of 22,571,105 affiliates. Thanks to this advance, the seasonally adjusted series has already logged 69 consecutive months of increases.
"October gives us a growth in employment that is historical, as we see in the seasonally adjusted series and in the original one compared year-on-year. We have been adding affiliates month after month for 69 months in the seasonally adjusted series; our labor market is in very good health," highlighted Elma Saiz, the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations.
The Social Security officer has also focused on the sharp increase in the enrollment of foreign workers, which is approaching 3.7 million average employed persons (3,699,878 registered contributors). "At the end of October, there are 490,586 foreign members registered as eligible who come from the extraordinary regularization process," Saiz added.
The regularization adds more than 490,000 members to the system
As part of this extraordinary regularization process for foreign people, Social Security recorded at the end of October 490,586 members registered as eligible linked to this measure. Since April, a total of 557,410 foreign workers have been registered as eligible for at least one day thanks to this procedure.
By nationality, Colombia leads the registrations resulting from the regularization, with 27.6% of contributors (135,402 members), followed by Venezuela, with 15.7% (77,022 workers). Between the two countries, they account for 43.3% of the total number of new contributors coming from this process.
As for classification, 75.2% of these regularized employees are integrated into the General Scheme, while 5.9% are listed as self-employed workers in the Special Scheme for Self-Employed Workers (RETA).
By sex, 59.7% of those regularized are men and 40.3% women. Geographically, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid group the largest number of these members, with 20.1% and 19.3% of the total, respectively.
Education drives employment in the General Scheme
By schemes, the General Scheme added in October 170,852 average members (+0.90%), reaching 19,059,332 employed persons, and in the last year it has accumulated 704,996 more contributors (+3.84%).
The Special Scheme for Self-Employed Workers (RETA) added 17,952 employed persons on average (+0.5%) and for the first time surpassed the 3.5 million barrier for members. Specifically, the number of contributors to RETA stood at 3,501,598, which is 79,163 more than in October 2025 (+2.3%).
Within the General Scheme, the education sector led the increases over September due to the start of the academic year, with 165,994 additional members (+14.1%). Next came construction, with 18,597 more employed persons (+1.7%), and the arts and entertainment activities, which added 17,705 contributors (+5.3%).
The Special Agricultural System recorded 17,146 more members (+2.7%), while the Special Household Employees System added 12,295 employed persons (+3.2%).
On the other side, hospitality lost 44,974 average members (-2.6%), health activities and social services reduced their membership by 28,639 people (-1.4%), and administrative activities and auxiliary services fell by 12,324 contributors (-0.8%).
Membership rises for men and women and accelerates among foreigners
The monthly increase in membership was felt especially among women, who added 131,934 contributors in October (+1.2%), bringing the total number of registered female workers to a new high of 10,712,135.
In the case of men, membership increased by 54,678 employed persons (+0.46%), reaching 11,912,029 workers.
In year-on-year terms, male membership has grown by 417,036 contributors (+3.6%) over the past year, while female membership has increased by 367,537 workers since October 2025 (+3.5%). In this way, women already account for 47.4% of the total members of the system.
Foreign workers added 63,899 members compared with September (+1.76%), reaching an average of 3,699,878 employed persons, which represents a new all-time high. Compared with October 2025, the membership of immigrants has increased by 598,378 contributors (+19.29%) and is already equivalent to 16.4% of Social Security as a whole.
Temporary employment falls to 12.1% and the contributor-to-pensioner ratio improves
According to the Ministry’s data, the biggest employment advance continues to be concentrated in permanent, full-time contracts, which has reduced the temporary employment rate to 12.1%, far below the 28.3% recorded in October 2021.
Among those under 30 years of age, the percentage of temporary employment has dropped to 19.9%, compared with the 51.7% observed five years ago.
Social Security also specifies that the relationship between contributor and pensioner now stands at 2.51, the highest level since 2011.
Eleven communities gain jobs and the ERTE remain contained
In October, average membership increased in eleven autonomous communities compared with the previous month. The largest gains occurred in the Community of Madrid, with 58,128 more employed persons, Andalusia, with 46,405, and the Valencian Community, with 40,873 additional members.
By contrast, membership fell in six territories, led by the Balearic Islands, which lost 31,610 employed persons, La Rioja, with 2,112 fewer, and Castilla-La Mancha, with a decline of 1,207 workers.
Finally, the number of workers affected by temporary employment regulation proceedings (ERTE) stood at the end of October at 10,392 people. Of them, 2,180 were in a force majeure ERTE, 7,178 in an ERTE for economic, technical, organizational or production-related reasons (ETOP), and 1,034 in the RED Mechanism for the automotive industry.