SPAIN’S unemployment rate fell to below 10% last year for the first time since 2008 when the recession was starting to bite.
A record number of 22.46 million people are in work, after 605,400 jobs were created in 2025.
According to figures from the Active Population Survey published on Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics, unemployment fell by 118,400 to leave the total at 2.47 million.
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Economy Minister, Carlos Cuerpo, said the data shows ‘a stronger, more stable labour market with higher quality employment, which lays a solid foundation to continue expanding the well-being of all citizens’.
“It is worth highlighting the drive of the private sector, which represents 92% of the employment created in the last 12 months,” added Cuerpo.
Social Security Minister, Elma Saiz, drew attention to the good social security registration figures and the jobless rate following into single digits.
Despite the positive spin on the figures from government ministers, Spain still has one of the worst unemployment rates in the EU- still far off the bloc’s average of 6%.
Employment during 2025 increased more among women (up 306,200) than among men (up 299,200).
The total number of employed foreigners stands at 3.58 million and dual-nationals on 1.2 million with those two groups combined accounting for 21.4% of the labour market.
By sector, the greatest job growth in 2025 was in services (with 369,900 more employed), followed by industry (112,200), construction (79,500) and agriculture (43,800).
Spain gained 76,200 workers between the third and fourth quarter of 2025, more than double the previous year (up 34,900), as staff were taken on by retailers for the Christmas season.
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