Labour Statistics Convention, 1985 (No. 160) - Spain (Ratification: 1989)

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

The Committee notes the observations made by the Spanish Confederation of Employers’ Organizations (CEOE), the Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (CEPYME), the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (CCOO) and the General Confederation of Workers (UGT), received on 18 September 2023, and the Government’s response.

Article 3 of the Convention. Consultation of the social partners. The Committee notes the indication that, in the context of the annual labour and employment survey, the Government takes into consideration the comments and suggestions made by any person or institution. It requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which the social partners are consulted on the design or revision of the concepts, definitions and methodology used in the collection, compilation and publication of the required statistics with a view to taking into account their needs and ensuring their cooperation.

Articles 7 and 8. Statistics of employment, unemployment and underemployment. Statistics of the structure and distribution of the economically active population. The Committee notes with interest the indication that the new European regulations and the changes made to the method of measuring the active population in 2021 include the standards set out in the Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization, adopted by the International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) at its 19th Session (2013) (Resolution I). It also notes the indication that the international standards and guidelines on statistics of employment, unemployment, labour cost and wages, as discussed at the 20th ICLS, are under examination. The Committee requests the Government to continue the regular provision of the data required by the Convention. It also requests the Government to provide information on any developments that have an impact on the implementation of the Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization adopted by the ICLS at its 19th Session (2013), the Resolution concerning statistics on work relationships, adopted by the ICLS at its 20th Session (2018) (Resolution I), and the Resolution concerning statistics on the informal economy, adopted by the ICLS at its 21st Session (2023) (Resolution I).

Article 9(2). Statistics of time rates of wages and normal hours of work. In the absence of information on this subject, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the manner in which statistics of wage rates are collected, compiled and published.

Articles 10 and 11. Statistics of wage structure and distribution. Statistics of labour cost. The Committee notes that, although it has not accepted the obligations in respect of Articles 10 and 11 of the Convention, the Government collects, compiles and publishes the statistics required by these provisions. The Committee invites the Government to consider the possibility of accepting the obligations in respect of Articles 10 and 11 of the Convention.

Article 14. Statistics of occupational injuries and diseases. The Committee notes the detailed statistics provided by the Government concerning occupational accidents. It notes that these statistics, and the statistics of occupational diseases, are compiled by the Ministry of Labour and the Social Economy (Ministerio de Trabajo y Economía Social) and the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration (Ministerio de Inclusión, Seguridad Social y Migraciones), respectively. The information is drawn from insurance records and the System for the Electronic Notification of Occupational Diseases (CEPROSS). The Committee notes that the statistics are transmitted to the ILO Statistics Department (ILOSTAT) through its annual questionnaire, with the latest statistics dating from 2022. In light of the above and the decision by the International Labour Conference at its 110th Session in June 2022 to include a “safe and healthy working environment“ as a fundamental principle and right at work, the Committee requests the Government to: (i) provide information on any developments concerning the production and publication of statistics of occupational injuries and occupational diseases; (ii) continue the regular provision of the relevant statistics; and (iii) provide updated information on the sources, concepts, definitions and methodology used for the collection and compilation of the statistics.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes the observations of the CEOE, CCOO and CEPYME concerning the calculation of the coverage rate of collective bargaining. It notes the Government’s indication that work in this field is proceeding well and a modernization project is being developed to automate the integration of the various sources. The Committee emphasizes in this regard that statistics of the coverage rate of collective bargaining are not among the statistics required by Part II of the Convention. With reference to the observations of the CEOE and the CEPYME concerning the intervals between surveys of wages and wage structure, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that it cannot be changed due to the complexity involved in the collection and analysis of the data. The Government indicates that a file of micro-data is available for users for the statistics of wages obtained through the census of the active population and that information is provided on the website and by the competent services. The Committee requests the Government to report any developments in this regard that have an impact on the manner in which national law and practice give effect to the Convention.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

The Committee notes the observations from the Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (CCOO), received on 15 September 2015, and the Government’s reply, received on 11 November 2015.

Articles 1, 7 and 8 of the Convention. Basic labour statistics. Statistics of employment, unemployment and underemployment. Statistics of the structure and distribution of the economically active population. The CCOO is of the opinion that statistical information related to Article 1 of the Convention is not limited to the surveys carried out by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). The Government indicates in its reply that, for each subject, the source having the best international comparability was selected. The Committee notes that the main source of information on the active population is still the active population survey (EPA). The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether any action has been taken to implement the Resolution concerning statistics of work, employment and labour underutilization (Resolution I), adopted by the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (October 2013).

Article 3. Consultation of the social partners. The CCOO states with regard to the annual labour survey (EAL) that the workers’ and employers’ organizations were not consulted. The CCOO adds that the organizations in question were merely invited to attend an information meeting after the EAL had been published. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments on this matter.

Application of the Convention in practice. The CCOO observes that there are no statistics that could indicate the coverage provided by collective agreements in force and there is no statistical processing of collective agreements registered with the labour authority, except for the partial exploitation of data relating to the non-application of Conventions. The CCOO refers to recommendations relating to national statistical plans which have not yet been implemented, such as: promoting methodological studies which, using existing sources relating to wage costs, enable the creation of a labour price index; creating integrated statistics on dismissals, indicating the type of dismissal and compensation for contract termination; making better use of social security registers to improve statistics on collective labour agreements; including information, in the aforementioned statistics, on the number of enterprises or workers affected by an “opt-out” clause in the collective agreement, the type of “opt-out” (in terms of wages or in another form) and the grounds for it; amending the Act concerning the public statistical service to allow the INE access to tax-related records; incorporating wages in the EPA on an individual basis instead of the current usage of deciles; and publishing job registration and cancellation flows by type of contract and working day, on the basis of the EPA. The Government states in its reply that the observations made by the CCOO regarding the recommendations relating to national statistical plans in the labour sphere are outside the scope of the Convention. The Committee notes the drawing up of the labour price index, which is due to be published by the INE at the end of 2016. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on any new developments relating to the matters covered by the Convention.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

The Committee notes the availability on the website of the National Statistical Institute (INE) of the statistics covered by the Convention and of the relevant methodological information.

Article 9 of the Convention. Compilation of statistics of wages and hours of work. Taking note of the information provided by the Government, the Committee draws its attention to Resolution I[1] concerning the measurement of working time adopted by the 18th International Conference of Labour Statisticians in November–December 2008, which defines new concepts and measures in this area of statistics.

Article 16. Acceptance of obligations. In its previous comments, the Committee welcomed the fact that the European Community Structure of Earnings Survey, in which the Government had participated, fully met the requirement of Article 10, as well as the fact that statistics of labour costs were established on a quarterly, annual and four-yearly basis and also met the requirements of Article 11. The Committee therefore requests the Government once again to consider having recourse to the possibility envisaged in Article 16(3), of accepting the obligations under Articles 10 and 11, and requests it to inform the Office of any developments in this respect.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2006, published 96th ILC session (2007)

The Committee notes the Government’s report and the information provided in reply to its previous comments. It also notes the availability on the web site of the National Statistical Institute (INE) of the statistics covered by the Convention and of the relevant methodological information.

Article 16 of the Convention. The Committee once again notes with interest that the European Community Structure of Earnings Survey, in which the Government participated, fully meets the requirements of Article 10, and that statistics of labour costs are established on a quarterly, annual and four-yearly basis and also meet the requirements of Article 11. The Committee therefore requests the Government once again to consider having recourse to the possibility envisaged in Article 16, paragraph 3, of accepting the obligations under these Articles and requests it to inform the Office of any developments in this respect.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2000, published 89th ILC session (2001)

The Committee notes the Government’s report and asks the Government to provide further information on the following points:

Article 8 of the Convention.  The Committee draws the attention of the Government once again to the obligations of Article 5 concerning the communication of data derived from the latest census (total and economically active population) to the ILO. The Committee asks the Government to communicate this information to the ILO as soon as practicable.

Article 9, paragraph 2.  The Committee notes that, according to the Government’s report, statistics of time rates of wages for normal hours of work could, in principle, be derived from the Encuesta de Salarios en la Industria y los Servicios. However, such statistics are not compiled and do not appear to be appropriate. The Committee again asks the Government to indicate whether it intends to compile statistics of time rates of wages.

Article 14.  The Committee notes with interest that, according to the information available at the ILO, statistics on occupational injuries and occupational diseases have also been collected via an ad hoc module of questions attached to the Labour Force Survey. It asks the Government to communicate these statistics to the ILO when they are available.

Article 16.  The Committee notes with interest that, although Articles 10 and 11 were excluded from the acceptance of the obligations of the Convention, the Government participated in the 1996 European Community Structure of Earnings Survey and the 1996 European Community Labour Cost Survey, which meet the requirements of these Articles, respectively. It draws the Government’s attention to the possibility of subsequently accepting the obligations in respect of these Articles in pursuance of Article 16, paragraph 3.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 82nd ILC session (1995)

The Committee notes the Government's second report and requests the Government to provide information on the following points.

Article 8 of the Convention. In the absence of reply to its previous request, the Committee again asks the Government to supply information on population censuses. It recalls that both labour force surveys and population censuses are statistical sources of the "structure and distribution of the economically active population" and that censuses are covered by Article 8 of the Convention. The Committee would also draw the attention of the Government to the obligations under Article 5 to communicate to the ILO, as soon as possible, the published statistics and the reference information on their publication, with regard to the statistics covered by each accepted Article of the Convention.

Article 9. The Committee notes with interest that a new survey on labour juncture (Encuesta de Coyuntura Laboral) is being conducted, which provides quarterly statistics of hours actually worked per quarter. It notes however that statistics of time rates of wages (by industry and/or by occupation) are not compiled. The Committee again requests the Government to state whether it intends to collect, compile and publish statistics of time rates of wages and, if not, to indicate the reasons.

Article 10. The Committee notes with interest that, although this Article was excluded from the acceptance of the obligations of the Convention, the Government is involved in the project of the European Structure of Earnings Survey to be conducted in 1996 with reference to 1995. It asks the Government to supply information on developments in this respect, in accordance with Article 16(4).

Article 11. Further to its previous request, the Committee notes with interest that the Government participated in the 1988 and 1992 European Community Labour Cost Surveys, which meet the requirements of this Article, which was excluded from the acceptance of the obligations of the Convention. It would again draw the Government's attention to the possibility of subsequently accepting the obligations in respect of this Article in pursuance of Article 16(3).

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1993, published 80th ILC session (1993)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in the first report as well as the ample documentation provided with the report. It requests the Government to provide information on the following points.

Article 8 of the Convention. The Committee notes that, although the Government's report does not contain explicit reference to population censuses, population censuses seem to have been carried out in line with the requirements of the Convention, according to the information available at the Office. It requests the Government to include in future reports information on the population census as the source of statistics of the structure of the economically active population.

Article 9. The Committee notes that statistics of time rates of wages (by industry and/or by occupation) are not compiled. It requests the Government to state whether it intends to collect, compile and publish statistics of time rates of wages and, if not, to indicate the reasons.

Article 10. The Committee notes with interest that, although this Article was excluded from the acceptance of the obligations of the Convention, a document entitled "Labour Cost Survey 1988 - Project", communicated with the report refers to the intention to conduct a survey of wage structure and distribution and to obtain basic information in this regard from the results of the 1988 Labour Cost Survey. It requests the Government to continue supplying information on developments in this respect in accordance with Article 16, paragraph 4.

Article 11. The Committee notes with interest that statistics of labour cost have been compiled, on the basis of the annual Industrial Survey in the past and through the four-yearly Labour Cost Survey since 1988, in accordance with this Article, which was excluded from the acceptance of the obligations of the Convention. It draws the Government's attention to the possibility of subsequently accepting the obligations in respect of this Article in pursuance of Article 16, paragraph 3.