UPTA estimates that Spain will reach 754,000 foreign self-employed workers by 2031, 216,000 more than now. The growth rate accelerates to 10.3% year-on-year in 2026.
The self-employment of foreign individuals is gaining ground in Spain. The organization UPTA has presented an analysis projecting 754,000 foreign self-employed workers by 2031, compared to the 537,660 currently. This means adding around 216,000 new entrepreneurs in five years, a 40% increase from now, according to upta.es.
The study is based on a cautious scenario with an average annual growth of 7%, lower than the 10.3% year-on-year recorded in 2026. In the last two years, 81,000 foreign self-employed workers have joined, an increase of nearly 18%. The growth rate has accelerated from 6.9% in August 2025 to the current 10.3%.
UPTA's annual projection is as follows: 575,000 in 2027, 616,000 in 2028, 659,000 in 2029, 705,000 in 2030, and 754,000 in 2031.
The significant increase in 2026 is partly explained by the extraordinary regularisation process. As of August 31, nearly 340,000 people from this process were registered with Social Security, of which 16,912 were self-employed workers.
Sector diversification is notable. Foreign individuals represent 33.5% of self-employed workers in Telecommunications and Computer Programming, 25.7% in Hospitality, 19.8% in Administrative Activities, 19% in Construction, and 18.5% in Real Estate Activities.
In rural areas, the affiliation data from August 2026 shows a high presence of foreign workers: 28.1% in Agriculture, 39.2% in the Special Agricultural System, 27% in Construction, and 33.6% in Hospitality.
UPTA warns that rural areas face the aging of their self-employed workers and the lack of succession in small businesses. The organization believes that foreign self-employed workers will be essential to maintain services and activity in sparsely populated municipalities over the next decade.
"The next step must be to encourage that part of this incorporation into the labour market can transform, when there is vocation and economic viability, into stable entrepreneurship and self-employment, especially in rural areas," UPTA states.
To this end, UPTA demands a specific strategy for foreign entrepreneurship aimed at rural municipalities and activities struggling to find continuity.
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