Data / Rankings / Active enterprises / Provinces of Spain

Provinces of Spain by active enterprises, 2023

Madrid province had the highest active enterprises of 49 provinces in 2023, at 553,293. Ceuta province had the lowest, at 3,550. The median was 36,409 and the figure for Spain was 3.5 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest553,293Madrid province
Lowest3,550Ceuta province
Median36,40949 provinces
Spain3,503,285History

All provinces, 2023

Madrid province: 553,293 countMadrid province553,293Barcelona province: 489,832 countBarcelona province489,832Valencia province: 196,322 countValencia province196,322Alicante province: 153,279 countAlicante province153,279Málaga province: 150,217 countMálaga province150,217Seville province: 129,432 countSeville province129,432Murcia province: 99,842 countMurcia province99,842A Coruña province: 81,448 countA Coruña province81,448Biscay province: 76,366 countBiscay province76,366Pontevedra province: 69,834 countPontevedra province69,834Cádiz province: 69,086 countCádiz province69,086Asturias province: 68,999 countAsturias province68,999Girona province: 67,916 countGirona province67,916Granada province: 65,018 countGranada province65,018Zaragoza province: 63,677 countZaragoza province63,677Tarragona province: 57,280 countTarragona province57,280Córdoba province: 49,913 countCórdoba province49,913Gipuzkoa province: 49,652 countGipuzkoa province49,652Toledo province: 47,358 countToledo province47,358Almería province: 47,029 countAlmería province47,029Navarre province: 43,783 countNavarre province43,783Badajoz province: 42,263 countBadajoz province42,263Castellón province: 42,255 countCastellón province42,255Cantabria province: 40,384 countCantabria province40,384Jaén province: 36,409 countJaén province36,409Lleida province: 33,954 countLleida province33,954Valladolid province: 32,860 countValladolid province32,860Ciudad Real province: 30,354 countCiudad Real province30,354León province: 29,732 countLeón province29,732Huelva province: 27,665 countHuelva province27,665Albacete province: 26,533 countAlbacete province26,533Cáceres province: 25,647 countCáceres province25,647Lugo province: 23,681 countLugo province23,681Burgos province: 22,997 countBurgos province22,997La Rioja province: 22,502 countLa Rioja province22,502Ourense province: 22,265 countOurense province22,265Salamanca province: 21,765 countSalamanca province21,765Álava province: 18,794 countÁlava province18,794Huesca province: 16,148 countHuesca province16,148Guadalajara province: 14,569 countGuadalajara province14,569Cuenca province: 13,584 countCuenca province13,584Segovia province: 11,050 countSegovia province11,050Zamora province: 10,953 countZamora province10,953Ávila province: 10,287 countÁvila province10,287Palencia province: 9,341 countPalencia province9,341Teruel province: 9,140 countTeruel province9,140Soria province: 5,755 countSoria province5,755Melilla province: 4,751 countMelilla province4,751Ceuta province: 3,550 countCeuta province3,550
count. Source: Eurostat, Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankProvinces2023
count		Change on 2022
1Madrid province553,293+0.8%
2Barcelona province489,832+0.7%
3Valencia province196,322+1%
4Alicante province153,279+1.1%
5Málaga province150,217+2.7%
6Seville province129,432+0.4%
7Murcia province99,842-0.1%
8A Coruña province81,448-0.8%
9Biscay province76,366+0.4%
10Pontevedra province69,834-0.3%
11Cádiz province69,086+0.2%
12Asturias province68,999-1.2%
13Girona province67,916+1%
14Granada province65,018-0.8%
15Zaragoza province63,677-0.1%
16Tarragona province57,280+0.2%
17Córdoba province49,913-0.7%
18Gipuzkoa province49,652+1.2%
19Toledo province47,358-0.1%
20Almería province47,0290%
21Navarre province43,783+0.4%
22Badajoz province42,263-0.4%
23Castellón province42,255-0.2%
24Cantabria province40,3840%
25Jaén province36,409-1.6%
26Lleida province33,954+0.8%
27Valladolid province32,860-0.8%
28Ciudad Real province30,354-1.4%
29León province29,732-1.6%
30Huelva province27,665+0.7%
31Albacete province26,533-0.9%
32Cáceres province25,647-0.5%
33Lugo province23,681-1.7%
34Burgos province22,997-0.1%
35La Rioja province22,502-1%
36Ourense province22,265-1.3%
37Salamanca province21,765-0.9%
38Álava province18,794+1.6%
39Huesca province16,148+0.3%
40Guadalajara province14,569-0.2%
41Cuenca province13,584-0.3%
42Segovia province11,050-0.8%
43Zamora province10,953-1.4%
44Ávila province10,287-1%
45Palencia province9,341-2%
46Teruel province9,140-0.1%
47Soria province5,755-0.1%
48Melilla province4,751-2.2%
49Ceuta province3,550-3%

Other periods

About this ranking

Enterprises that had turnover or employment at any time during the year, with or without employees.

Counts enterprises, which can run several local units, under the harmonised Eurostat and OECD business demography rules. Not the same as active_companies (the INE business register count for Spain) or employer_firms (US firms with employees). For the UK it counts every enterprise active at some point in the year, so it differs from registered_enterprises_total (UK Business Counts), a snapshot of the register in March.

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

Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Eurostat, European Commission. (2026). Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r) (Provinces of Spain by active enterprises, 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table

MLA 9

Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r), Provinces of Spain by active enterprises, 2023. Eurostat, European Commission, 13 Mar. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/spain-provinces. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). Provinces of Spain by active enterprises, 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/spain-provinces.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r), Provinces of Spain by active enterprises, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/spain-provinces (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{eurostat_provinces_of_spain_by_2023,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd\_size\_r): Provinces of Spain by active enterprises, 2023}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/spain-provinces. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd\_size\_r). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd\_size\_r/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r): Provinces of Spain by active enterprises, 2023
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/13
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/spain-provinces
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/spain-provinces.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which province has the highest active enterprises?

Madrid province, with 553,293 in 2023, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which province has the lowest active enterprises?

Ceuta province, with 3,550 in 2023.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Active enterprises: other rankings

Provinces of Spain: more rankings