Spain Immigration focus on Spain: The number of immigrants paying social security in the Madrid region fell by 1,403 in August, bringing the total to 223,138.
However, according to statistics from the Association of Small Business Owners, the number of immigrant business owners has seen growth. From January to August of this year, the number of immigrant business owners in Madrid increased by 8,000, and the figure for August this year is 6,260 higher than the same period last year.
According to data from the National Federation of Associations of Self-Employed Workers (ATA), a total of 8,073 immigrant business owners have been added since January. Forty percent of these owners are Chinese or Italian, with the number of business owners from these two immigrant groups increasing by 1,889 and 1,321, respectively.
The fastest growth rate among immigrant business owners is attributed to Italians, with an increase of 9.6%. The second highest growth rate is among Dutch entrepreneurs in Spain at 6.2%, while Chinese and German business owners saw growth of 4.8% and 3.1%, respectively.
According to statistics from the Union of Professionals and Self-Employed Workers (UPTA), the three regions of Madrid, Catalonia, and Valencia account for 77% of the total loss of immigrant labor nationwide. Meanwhile, the Chinese workforce continues to show an upward trend in all regions; the number of Chinese workers paying social security in August of this year increased by 237, and in the past six months, this figure has risen by more than 3,000.