Actual hours contributed to Social Security registered in the third quarter of 2026 an increase of 17.7% compared with the pre-pandemic level, while actual contributed days increased by 16.4%, according to the data released this Friday by the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration.
The statistics on actual hours worked and contributed hours prepared by the Department headed by Elma Saiz are built from affiliation records and contribution bases and are published quarterly, with a historical series that begins in January 2019.
In order to reduce volatility between quarters and better observe the evolution of actual hours worked in the medium term, an index calculated using a four-quarter moving average is incorporated.
In the third quarter of the year, this indicator stood at 117.7 points, taking as a base 100 the figure for the last quarter of 2019. This implies that actual contributed hours have grown by 17.7% compared with the period immediately preceding the health crisis.
To estimate the actual contributed days and hours, periods in which workers are in temporary employment regulation files (ERTE), both partial and total, in a situation of temporary incapacity and in other benefits, such as those for birth and care of the child, risk during pregnancy and risk during natural breastfeeding, are excluded.
The information comes from the affiliation records and the contribution base reports of the General Treasury of Social Security (TGSS). The contributed days series begins in January 2019 and allows disaggregation by sex, branch of activity and contractual modality.
Contributed days grow by 18.9%
If the previous special situations are not deducted, the increase in days contributed to Social Security rises to 18.9% compared with pre-pandemic levels.
The total contributed days index stands at 118.9 points in the third quarter of 2026, while the actual contributed days index stands at 116.4 points. In both cases, the last quarter of 2019 is set as the reference with a value of 100.
By sex, women gain presence in the total number of contributed days. Specifically, they account for 48.2% of the total, compared with the 47.4% they represented in the last quarter of 2019, while men fall from 52.6% to 51.8%.
By type of contract, 88.4% of the effective contribution days correspond to people with permanent contracts, compared with 11.6% associated with temporary contracts.
This distribution contrasts with the one existing before the labor reform. In June 2019, permanent contracts accounted for 70.2% of the effective contribution days, compared with 29.8% for temporary ones.
Contributed hours rebound by 20.4%
Regarding total contributed hours, the index stands at 120.4 points in the third quarter of 2026, compared with 100 points in the last quarter of 2019, taken as the pre-pandemic reference. This is equivalent to an increase of 20.4%.
Once the hours corresponding to workers on ERTE, on temporary incapacity and on other benefits are subtracted, the effective contributed hours stand at 117.7 points, which represents an increase of 17.7% compared with the levels immediately prior to the pandemic.