Number of National Insurance contributors once again tops 17 million

​The number of contributors rose in all autonomous regions for the second straight month, under the key regimes and in the most representative sectors (both under the general regime and the self-employed regime). Noteworthy were the figures for hotel and catering industry, and trade.

The seasonally-adjusted figure (up 87,215) supports this positive trend, and the increase in April strongly beat the figure posted in 2014 (up 48,212). There have now been 21 straight months of growth.

In year-on-year terms, the affiliation rate has maintained the same upward trend that began 15 months ago with an increase of 3.52%. This translates into an increase of 578,243 compared with 2014.

The State Secretary for Social Security, Tomás Burgos, recalled that "the system has recovered 855,000 workers in terms of average recorded affiliation since its all-time low in February 2013. 

In his opinion, "the progress in affiliation numbers in the year to date is unprecedented in the last decade".

Affiliation under the General Regime grew by 154,616 on March (1.13%) to stand at an average of 13,791,850. The most noteworthy sectors were the hotel and catering industry, with 70,509 new contributors; trade, with 13,168 new contributors; administrative activities and ancillary services, up 10,799; transport and warehousing, up 7,311; and the manufacturing industry, up 5,134

The Special System for Agricultural Workers posted an increase of 16,519 (2.2%) to a total of 765,930 contributors. The Special System for Domestic Workers grew by 982 contributors (0.23%) to now total 432,200 workers.

3,151,593 contributors were registered under the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers, following an increase of 19,964 (0.64%). 960 more people were registered under the Regime for Seamen (1.6%) to a total of 60,994. Finally, the Regime for Coal Workers comprised an average of 3,859 workers, following a reduction of 46 (-1.17%).

In year-on-year terms, the rate increased by 3.52% or 578,243 more jobs in the system. The majority of this growth corresponds to the General Regime, with 508,582 more jobs than last year (3.83%).

It should be noted that the rate rose by 2.29% under the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers, which translates into an increase of 70,683 when compared with the same month in 2014. The Regime for Seamen posted a decrease of 1.04% (-641).