Data / Rankings / Active companies / Autonomous communities of Spain

Autonomous communities of Spain by active companies

Catalonia had the highest active companies of 19 autonomous communities in 2017, at 608,981. Ceuta had the lowest, at 3,844. The median was 93,574 and the figure for Spain was 3.28 million. Source: the Instituto Nacional de Estadística.

Highest608,981Catalonia
Lowest3,844Ceuta
Median93,57419 autonomous communities
Spain3,282,346History

All autonomous communities, 2017

CSVChart (SVG)

CataloniaCatalonia: 608,981 count608,981Community of MadridCommunity of Madrid: 526,156 count526,156AndalusiaAndalusia: 501,745 count501,745Valencian CommunityValencian Community: 350,065 count350,065GaliciaGalicia: 198,923 count198,923Castile and LeónCastile and León: 161,619 count161,619Canary IslandsCanary Islands: 141,595 count141,595Basque CountryBasque Country: 140,290 count140,290Castilla-La ManchaCastilla-La Mancha: 127,102 count127,102Region of MurciaRegion of Murcia: 93,574 count93,574Balearic IslandsBalearic Islands: 93,067 count93,067AragonAragon: 90,903 count90,903AsturiasAsturias: 68,368 count68,368ExtremaduraExtremadura: 65,844 count65,844NavarreNavarre: 44,120 count44,120CantabriaCantabria: 38,459 count38,459La RiojaLa Rioja: 23,167 count23,167MelillaMelilla: 4,524 count4,524CeutaCeuta: 3,844 count3,844
count. Source: INE. Retrieved 2026-10-07.

Full ranking

RankAutonomous communities2017
count		Change on 2016
1Catalonia608,981+2.1%
2Community of Madrid526,156+1.9%
3Andalusia501,745+2.5%
4Valencian Community350,065+1.6%
5Galicia198,923+0.7%
6Castile and León161,619+0.2%
7Canary Islands141,595+4.2%
8Basque Country140,290-7.2%
9Castilla-La Mancha127,102+0.5%
10Region of Murcia93,574+1.7%
11Balearic Islands93,067+4.2%
12Aragon90,903+0.6%
13Asturias68,368+1%
14Extremadura65,844+0.5%
15Navarre44,120+0.5%
16Cantabria38,459+2%
17La Rioja23,167+0.4%
18Melilla4,524+4%
19Ceuta3,844+2.2%

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 autonomous communities 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 autonomous community has the highest active companies?

Catalonia, with 608,981 in 2017, according to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística.

Which autonomous community has the lowest active companies?

Ceuta, with 3,844 in 2017.

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

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