Number of National Insurance contributors rises by 63,355 in February

The year-on-year rate of NI contributors rose by 2.97%, the largest increase in a month of February since 2007. In seasonally-adjusted terms, this increase represents 32,492 more people in work.

​The average number of National Insurance contributors amounted to 17,167,712 in the month of February, after rising by 63,355 contributors (up 0.37%).

This result is influenced in part by the falling number of contributors in the agriculture sector, following the end of a good olive harvest.

In terms of the seasonally-adjusted figures (up 32,492 workers), a more moderate month-on-month increase was recorded than in February last year (up 67,428 workers).

Comparison with previous month

The General Regime posted a rise of 58,167 contributors (up 0.42%) to stand at 13,950,613 in work. Almost all sectors recorded an increase in February, with noteworthy rises in the Hotel and Catering industry (up 21,197), Construction (up 20,584), Education (up 17,172) and Manufacturing Industry (up 14,342). The Special System for Agricultural Workers, as referred to above, posted a decline by 28,902 contributors (down 3.65%) to stand at an average of 762,762 workers, while the Special System for Domestic Workers rose by 2,597 contributors (up 0.61%) to stand at a total of 429,626 workers.

3,153,066 contributors were registered under the Regime for Self-Employed Workers, following a rise of 3,593 (up 0.11%).

An increase was posted in the Special Regime for Seamen of 1,589 workers (up 2.7%) to a total of 60,481, bolstered by the opening up of the fishing season for anchovy and mackerel.

Finally, the Regime for Coal Workers has an average of 3,553 contributors following a rise of 5 people (up 0.15%).

By autonomous region, affiliation to the Social Security system rose in February in the majority of autonomous regions, headed up by Catalonia (up 22,134), followed by the Region of Madrid (up 11,884), the Region of Murcia (up 4,758) and Galicia (up 4,654). In contrast, it fell in Andalusia (down 7,509).

Comparison with 2015

In year-on-year terms, the second month of the year close with an average of 495,490 more contributors (up 2.97%), the highest rate for a month of February since 2007. This increase is mainly down to the good results posted by the General Regime, with 455,426 new workers year-on-year (up 3.37%).

Compared with February 2015, the system as a whole posted 495,490 more workers, up 2.97%.

It should be noted that the rate rose by 1.23% under the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers, which translates into an increase of 38,214 workers. The Regime for Seamen rose by 3.9% (up 2,268), while the Regime for Coal Workers posted a decrease of 417 contributors (down 10.51%).

Compared with last year, the number of workers has increased in all provinces and autonomous regions. Particularly noteworthy are the Balearic Islands (up 5.14%), the Region of Valencia (up 3.64%), Catalonia (up 3.63%), the Region of Madrid (up 3.59%) and the Canary Islands (up 3.5%).