Strong economic growth will continue to boost Spain’s labour market, with the employed population expected to increase by 1.6% to exceed 22 million workers in 2025, according to new Randstad research.

Randstad said the number of unemployed workers is also expected to drop by almost 7% to 2.58 million. This will result in the national unemployment rate falling to 10.5%, down nearly a percentage point from the end of 2024.

“The prospects are good for the labour market,” Valentin Bote, director of Randstad Research, said in a press release on 10 March.

“With an unemployment rate at the end of 2024 at 10.6%, we believe that unemployment in Spain will continue to decrease in line with the main OECD countries as long as there is no economic shock.”

In 2024, Spain’s economy outpaced the rest of Europe, with its gross national product expanding at a better-than-expected 3.2%. According to research by CaixaBank, it is expected to grow in 2025, boosted by household consumption, tourism, lower inflation, and higher salaries.

Randstad said the sectors that generated the most jobs in 2024 included food and beverage services, education, and IT, such as programming and consulting.

However, the biggest drop in jobs was in agriculture, livestock, domestic activities and the insurance, reinsurance and pension funds sectors.

The number of foreign workers in Spain also jumped by 6%, reaching 3.3 million compared with the previous year. In contrast, the research showed there are 17.3 million Spanish and 1.21 million dual nationality workers.

Meanwhile, 14.6% of all employees were classified as remote workers, with Madrid emerging as the most popular city for teleworking, followed by Catalonia, Valencia and the Basque Country.