Provinces of Spain by active companies

Madrid province had the highest active companies of 52 provinces in 2016, at 516,412. Ceuta province had the lowest, at 3,762. The median was 38,462 and the figure for Spain was 3.24 million. Source: the Instituto Nacional de Estadística.

Highest516,412Madrid province
Lowest3,762Ceuta province
Median38,46252 provinces
Spain3,236,582History

All provinces, 2016

CSVChart (SVG)

Madrid provinceMadrid province: 516,412 count516,412Barcelona provinceBarcelona province: 450,451 count450,451Valencia provinceValencia province: 172,204 count172,204Alicante provinceAlicante province: 133,124 count133,124Málaga provinceMálaga province: 115,447 count115,447Seville provinceSeville province: 113,653 count113,653Murcia provinceMurcia province: 92,008 count92,008Balearic Islands provinceBalearic Islands province: 89,341 count89,341A Coruña provinceA Coruña province: 82,156 count82,156Biscay provinceBiscay province: 79,166 count79,166Las Palmas provinceLas Palmas province: 70,613 count70,613Pontevedra provincePontevedra province: 67,968 count67,968Asturias provinceAsturias province: 67,675 count67,675Santa Cruz de Tenerife provinceSanta Cruz de Tenerife province: 65,296 count65,296Zaragoza provinceZaragoza province: 64,655 count64,655Girona provinceGirona province: 60,529 count60,529Cádiz provinceCádiz province: 58,658 count58,658Granada provinceGranada province: 56,884 count56,884Gipuzkoa provinceGipuzkoa province: 52,016 count52,016Tarragona provinceTarragona province: 51,887 count51,887Córdoba provinceCórdoba province: 46,290 count46,290Navarre provinceNavarre province: 43,907 count43,907Toledo provinceToledo province: 42,240 count42,240Almería provinceAlmería province: 41,212 count41,212Badajoz provinceBadajoz province: 40,494 count40,494Castellón provinceCastellón province: 39,228 count39,228Cantabria provinceCantabria province: 37,696 count37,696Valladolid provinceValladolid province: 33,587 count33,587Lleida provinceLleida province: 33,329 count33,329Jaén provinceJaén province: 33,250 count33,250León provinceLeón province: 31,427 count31,427Ciudad Real provinceCiudad Real province: 30,315 count30,315Albacete provinceAlbacete province: 26,884 count26,884Burgos provinceBurgos province: 25,583 count25,583Cáceres provinceCáceres province: 24,990 count24,990Lugo provinceLugo province: 24,353 count24,353Huelva provinceHuelva province: 23,953 count23,953La Rioja provinceLa Rioja province: 23,076 count23,076Ourense provinceOurense province: 23,061 count23,061Salamanca provinceSalamanca province: 22,259 count22,259Álava provinceÁlava province: 20,034 count20,034Huesca provinceHuesca province: 16,396 count16,396Cuenca provinceCuenca province: 13,623 count13,623Guadalajara provinceGuadalajara province: 13,359 count13,359Zamora provinceZamora province: 11,701 count11,701Segovia provinceSegovia province: 10,806 count10,806Palencia provincePalencia province: 10,131 count10,131Ávila provinceÁvila province: 10,080 count10,080Teruel provinceTeruel province: 9,274 count9,274Soria provinceSoria province: 5,790 count5,790Melilla provinceMelilla province: 4,349 count4,349Ceuta provinceCeuta province: 3,762 count3,762
count. Source: INE. Retrieved 2026-10-07.

Full ranking

RankProvinces2016
count
Change on 2015
1Madrid province516,412+1.5%
2Barcelona province450,451+2.1%
3Valencia province172,204+1%
4Alicante province133,124+2.1%
5Málaga province115,447+3.3%
6Seville province113,653+1.8%
7Murcia province92,008+2.2%
8Balearic Islands province89,341+2.6%
9A Coruña province82,156+0.9%
10Biscay province79,166+1.9%
11Las Palmas province70,613+2.1%
12Pontevedra province67,968+1.3%
13Asturias province67,675+0.3%
14Santa Cruz de Tenerife province65,296+2.6%
15Zaragoza province64,655+0.4%
16Girona province60,529+2.6%
17Cádiz province58,658+1.5%
18Granada province56,884+2.1%
19Gipuzkoa province52,016+1.4%
20Tarragona province51,887+1.7%
21Córdoba province46,290+0.7%
22Navarre province43,907+1.8%
23Toledo province42,2400%
24Almería province41,212+2.2%
25Badajoz province40,494+2.2%
26Castellón province39,228+1.4%
27Cantabria province37,696+1%
28Valladolid province33,587+0.8%
29Lleida province33,329+0.3%
30Jaén province33,250+0.7%
31León province31,427+0.1%
32Ciudad Real province30,315+0.7%
33Albacete province26,884+0.7%
34Burgos province25,583+1.1%
35Cáceres province24,990+0.6%
36Lugo province24,353+1.1%
37Huelva province23,953+0.7%
38La Rioja province23,076-0%
39Ourense province23,061+0.3%
40Salamanca province22,259-0.3%
41Álava province20,034+2.5%
42Huesca province16,396+0.6%
43Cuenca province13,623+0.4%
44Guadalajara province13,359+1.4%
45Zamora province11,701-0.1%
46Segovia province10,806+0.3%
47Palencia province10,131-1%
48Ávila province10,080-0.9%
49Teruel province9,274+1.3%
50Soria province5,790-1.9%
51Melilla province4,349+6%
52Ceuta province3,762+0.3%

Other periods

About this ranking

Active companies on 1 January (INE Central Business Directory, DIRCE).

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the provinces are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). Directorio central de empresas: empresas activas por provincia (tabla 302). https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Tabla.htm?t=302. Retrieved 2026-10-07.

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Questions

Which province has the highest active companies?

Madrid province, with 516,412 in 2016, according to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística.

Which province has the lowest active companies?

Ceuta province, with 3,762 in 2016.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Directorio central de empresas: empresas activas por provincia (tabla 302). Retrieved 2026-10-07.

Active companies: other rankings

Provinces of Spain: more rankings