Provinces of Spain by active companies

Madrid province had the highest active companies of 52 provinces in 2021, at 547,040. Ceuta province had the lowest, at 3,749. The median was 39,628 and the figure for Spain was 3.37 million. Source: the Instituto Nacional de Estadística.

Highest547,040Madrid province
Lowest3,749Ceuta province
Median39,62852 provinces
Spain3,366,570History

All provinces, 2021

CSVChart (SVG)

Madrid provinceMadrid province: 547,040 count547,040Barcelona provinceBarcelona province: 471,885 count471,885Valencia provinceValencia province: 182,851 count182,851Alicante provinceAlicante province: 144,573 count144,573Málaga provinceMálaga province: 130,632 count130,632Seville provinceSeville province: 122,491 count122,491Balearic Islands provinceBalearic Islands province: 98,120 count98,120Murcia provinceMurcia province: 95,294 count95,294A Coruña provinceA Coruña province: 80,233 count80,233Las Palmas provinceLas Palmas province: 76,204 count76,204Biscay provinceBiscay province: 73,615 count73,615Santa Cruz de Tenerife provinceSanta Cruz de Tenerife province: 71,795 count71,795Pontevedra provincePontevedra province: 68,043 count68,043Asturias provinceAsturias province: 67,573 count67,573Girona provinceGirona province: 64,258 count64,258Cádiz provinceCádiz province: 63,833 count63,833Zaragoza provinceZaragoza province: 63,411 count63,411Granada provinceGranada province: 61,148 count61,148Tarragona provinceTarragona province: 53,764 count53,764Córdoba provinceCórdoba province: 48,126 count48,126Gipuzkoa provinceGipuzkoa province: 47,581 count47,581Toledo provinceToledo province: 44,524 count44,524Almería provinceAlmería province: 44,437 count44,437Navarre provinceNavarre province: 44,334 count44,334Badajoz provinceBadajoz province: 41,122 count41,122Castellón provinceCastellón province: 40,620 count40,620Cantabria provinceCantabria province: 38,636 count38,636Jaén provinceJaén province: 34,754 count34,754Lleida provinceLleida province: 33,060 count33,060Valladolid provinceValladolid province: 32,732 count32,732Ciudad Real provinceCiudad Real province: 30,036 count30,036León provinceLeón province: 30,006 count30,006Albacete provinceAlbacete province: 26,221 count26,221Huelva provinceHuelva province: 25,739 count25,739Cáceres provinceCáceres province: 25,264 count25,264Burgos provinceBurgos province: 25,238 count25,238Lugo provinceLugo province: 24,059 count24,059La Rioja provinceLa Rioja province: 22,357 count22,357Ourense provinceOurense province: 22,322 count22,322Salamanca provinceSalamanca province: 21,915 count21,915Álava provinceÁlava province: 18,628 count18,628Huesca provinceHuesca province: 16,152 count16,152Guadalajara provinceGuadalajara province: 13,498 count13,498Cuenca provinceCuenca province: 13,394 count13,394Zamora provinceZamora province: 11,130 count11,130Segovia provinceSegovia province: 10,756 count10,756Ávila provinceÁvila province: 10,045 count10,045Palencia provincePalencia province: 9,639 count9,639Teruel provinceTeruel province: 9,039 count9,039Soria provinceSoria province: 5,670 count5,670Melilla provinceMelilla province: 5,024 count5,024Ceuta provinceCeuta province: 3,749 count3,749
count. Source: INE. Retrieved 2026-10-07.

Full ranking

RankProvinces2021
count
Change on 2020
1Madrid province547,040-0.9%
2Barcelona province471,885-1.2%
3Valencia province182,851-0.8%
4Alicante province144,573-0.6%
5Málaga province130,632-0.6%
6Seville province122,491+0.5%
7Balearic Islands province98,120-1.9%
8Murcia province95,294-1.5%
9A Coruña province80,233-1.7%
10Las Palmas province76,204-3.3%
11Biscay province73,615-2.3%
12Santa Cruz de Tenerife province71,795-2.9%
13Pontevedra province68,043-1.5%
14Asturias province67,573-1.3%
15Girona province64,258-0.2%
16Cádiz province63,833+0.7%
17Zaragoza province63,411-2.2%
18Granada province61,148-0.4%
19Tarragona province53,764-0.8%
20Córdoba province48,126-0.4%
21Gipuzkoa province47,581-2.5%
22Toledo province44,524-0.5%
23Almería province44,437+0.8%
24Navarre province44,334-0.2%
25Badajoz province41,122-1.3%
26Castellón province40,620-0.4%
27Cantabria province38,636-0.6%
28Jaén province34,754-0.1%
29Lleida province33,060-1.3%
30Valladolid province32,732-2.2%
31Ciudad Real province30,036-1.3%
32León province30,006-2.7%
33Albacete province26,221-0.5%
34Huelva province25,739-0.1%
35Cáceres province25,264-1.6%
36Burgos province25,238-1.4%
37Lugo province24,059-1.5%
38La Rioja province22,357-1.5%
39Ourense province22,322-1.6%
40Salamanca province21,915-2.1%
41Álava province18,628-1.2%
42Huesca province16,152-2.4%
43Guadalajara province13,498-0.8%
44Cuenca province13,394-1.5%
45Zamora province11,130-2.4%
46Segovia province10,756-0.6%
47Ávila province10,045-1.5%
48Palencia province9,639-1.8%
49Teruel province9,039-2.6%
50Soria province5,670-0.3%
51Melilla province5,024-4%
52Ceuta province3,749-2.5%

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 547,040 in 2021, according to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística.

Which province has the lowest active companies?

Ceuta province, with 3,749 in 2021.

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