While depopulated areas of Spain continue to shrink, Ibiza shows the opposite trend, growing at an accelerated pace. In just ten years, the number of people in employment on the island has increased by 40.8%, according to the latest data published by Ibestat for the month of November. The figure has risen from 40,336 contributors in 2015 to 56,798 in 2025 — almost 16,500 more.
Over the same period, Ibiza’s population has grown from 140,271 to 161,485 residents, an increase of 15% (21,214 people). Much of this growth has been absorbed by sectors such as construction, where employment has surged by 62.4% over the past decade. In 2015, 6,437 people worked in construction-related trades; by last November, that figure had risen to 10,457 — an increase of 4,020 workers and the first time employment in the sector has exceeded ten thousand in that month.
This growth is largely driven by building construction, particularly villas and single-family homes, where the workforce has expanded by 87%. Employment in specialised construction activities has also risen significantly and is now 43.5% higher than a decade ago.
More farmers, fewer fishermen
This upward trend can also be observed, albeit to a lesser extent, in agriculture, where the number of contributors has increased by 29% over the past ten years. In contrast, the fishing sector continues to decline, with 40.5% fewer fishermen than a decade ago, reflecting a sustained downward trend.
Meanwhile, employment in vehicle repair — one of the island’s long-standing shortcomings — has remained virtually unchanged, with just 1,052 workers, the same figure as ten years ago. This stagnation comes despite the fact that Ibiza’s vehicle fleet has grown by more than 30,000 units over the same period, leaving the island with the same number of specialists repairing car timing belts as it had a decade ago.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.