According to data from the ECO portal, based on the new Social Security database, this value already represents 14% of total contributions made by workers to the system, a significant jump from the 3.4% recorded in 2015.
In December 2025, the number of foreign contributors reached 840,000, equivalent to almost 18% of the total contributors in the country.
Although spending on social benefits paid to non-nationals also increased (524%), the rate was considerably lower than that of revenue.
In 2025, the State spent €822 million on subsidies for this group, resulting in a net surplus of more than €3.3 billion. The now-publicly available statistics reveal that these taxpayers are predominantly young, with the highest representation in the 20-39 age group, and that they mainly originate from Brazil, India, and Angola.
In terms of sectors, foreign workers are concentrated mainly in accommodation, catering, and construction, but their presence is most significant in agriculture, where they already represent more than 40% of the workforce. Although the numbers indicate a favourable margin, the Secretary of State for Social Security, Susana Filipa Lima, stressed in statements quoted by ECO the need for caution when speaking of a “net balance,” since not all expenditure and revenue categories allow for a complete breakdown by nationality.
The government official justified the opening of this database as a measure of transparency and literacy, responding to the growing public interest in the impact of immigration on the sustainability of the system. “There is a positive difference between contributions paid and benefits, yes,” admitted Susana Filipa Lima, reinforcing that the unbiased availability of this data is fundamental to raising public debate and literacy about national demographics and the economy.