7 in 10 farm workers in Catalonia are foreigners, 58% from outside EU

Around seven out of ten workers in the specialized agricultural regime are foreigners, according to data from the Spanish Social Security in 2023. 

Of the 21,074 people affiliated to the social security system for agricultural workers in Catalonia in December 2023, 14,686 workers were non-Spanish, 69.7%. Of these, only 11.4% were from the EU, while 58.3% were from non-EU countries. 

Catalonia's dependence on migrant labor in agriculture intensifies during the summer months, when the region experiences the peak of the harvest season. During this period, three out of four workers are migrants. 

The predominant profile of primary sector workers in Catalonia is a male from outside the European Union, with 90% of migrant workers in this sector being male.

Catalonia stands out as the second Spanish autonomous community with the highest proportion of migrant workers in agriculture, behind only Aragon. The Spanish average of migrant workers is 32.9%. 

In Spain as a whole, Catalonia's agriculture only represents a 3% of the total, with Spain having 686.000 workers, half of them from Andalucia.