Since 2022, foreign workers have filled roughly two-thirds of new jobs in the EU and contributed about 40% of annual GDP growth, information from BBVA Research. Their role has been especially impressive in Spain, Germany and Portugal, where labor markets might have contracted as working-age populations declined. This is a reversal of the pre-pandemic pattern: before 2020, most newly created jobs went to domestic workers.
Between 2022 and 2025, total employment growth in the EU is projected to reach 1.3%, with migrants accounting for about nine-tenths of that increase, BBVA Research estimates. In Spain, immigration helped offset a 1.6% decline in the working-age population during the period. Spanish economic reporting citing Banco de España findings puts immigrants’ contribution to Spain’s per-capita GDP growth from 2022 to 2024 at between 0.4 and 0.7 percentage points.
The effect varies across the EU. Eurostat’s first-quarter 2026 job-vacancy figures show a rate of 2.1% across the EU and 2.3% in the euro area, with large differences between countries: 4.0% in the Netherlands, 3.1% in Austria, 0.9% in Spain and 0.6% in Romania. Vacancies were also concentrated in particular sectors, including accommodation and food services (3.0%), construction (2.8%) and telecommunications, computer programming and IT services (2.6%). The figures show that demand for foreign labor varies by country and industry, rather than being equally acute across the bloc.
Migration flows and countries of origin also differ. Germany, the Netherlands and Austria have received impressive numbers of Ukrainian citizens, while Spain and Portugal have become major destinations for migrants from Latin America. Many new arrivals in Spain come from Colombia, Venezuela and Peru; in Portugal, Brazil is a major country of origin.
From 2020 to 2024, 11 million migrants arrived in the EU, 13% more than in the preceding comparable period. In 2022 to 2024 alone, 6.2 million people came to Europe. Spain became the largest recipient in the comparison, with its average annual inflow exceeding earlier years by about 800,000 people.
Spain’s economic gains have not automatically brought faster productivity growth. BBVA Research’s regional analysis finds that regions with faster population and employment growth have expanded total GDP without matching gains in output per worker. The Banco de España figures on per-capita GDP growth so sit alongside a broader challenge: increasing labor supply can support economic activity, but does not by itself ensure productivity convergence.
Despite migration’s economic importance, support for parties opposing larger foreign inflows is growing in several EU countries, particularly Italy, France, Germany and Spain. Public debate also reflects concerns about housing, public services, wages and integration. At the EU level, the European Economic and Social Committee has called for regular labor-migration pathways in sectors with persistent shortages at all skill levels, while distinguishing employment routes from asylum and humanitarian admission. The European Commission has identified legal migration as one way to address labor needs arising from population aging and changes in the working-age structure.
Migration and its effects on the economy and politics remain prominent topics in European media. For example, a piece on diplomatic risks related to Venezuela examined links between Spanish politicians and Latin American countries, highlighting the topic’s relevance to Spain.
Without migration, the workforce in most EU countries would have continued to shrink. Ireland, France and Denmark were the exceptions. In other countries, especially Portugal, Germany, Austria and Spain, foreign workers have become impressive to maintaining economic activity. According to Eurostat, by 2025 foreign workers made up more than 18% of Spain’s workforce and 17% of Germany’s. The EU employment rate reached 76.1% in 2025, up from 75.7% in 2024, reflecting a broader expansion to which migration has made a major contribution, though it was not the only factor.
