Autonomous communities of Spain by active enterprises

Catalonia had the highest active enterprises of 19 autonomous communities in 2021, at 635,587. Ceuta had the lowest, at 3,707. The median was 103,048 and the figure for Spain was 3.42 million. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest635,587Catalonia

Lowest3,707Ceuta

Median103,04819 autonomous communities

Spain3,416,248History

Map of autonomous communities, 2021

Under 40K
40K to 90K
90K to 140K
140K to 270K
270K and over

count, 2021. Source: Eurostat, Business demography by size class and NUTS 3 region, industry, construction and market services, all size classes, enterprises, number (bd_size_r). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All autonomous communities, 2021

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

Rank	Autonomous communities	2021 count
1	Catalonia Series break	635,587
2	Andalusia Series break	555,801
3	Community of Madrid Series break	537,752
4	Valencian Community Series break	378,484
5	Galicia Series break	196,675
6	Castile and León Series break	155,555
7	Canary Islands Series break	146,065
8	Basque Country Series break	141,543
9	Castilla-La Mancha Series break	130,885
10	Balearic Islands Series break	103,048
11	Region of Murcia Series break	98,533
12	Aragon Series break	88,382
13	Asturias Series break	69,230
14	Extremadura Series break	67,348
15	Navarre Series break	40,361
16	Cantabria Series break	39,609
17	La Rioja Series break	22,679
18	Melilla Series break	5,004
19	Ceuta Series break	3,707

Other periods

2023
2022
2021

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 autonomous communities 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) (Autonomous communities of Spain by active enterprises, 2021) [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), Autonomous communities of Spain by active enterprises, 2021. 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-regions?period=2021. 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). Autonomous communities of Spain by active enterprises, 2021. 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-regions?period=2021.

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), Autonomous communities of Spain by active enterprises, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/bd_size_r/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/spain-regions?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_autonomous_communities_of_spain_2021,
  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): Autonomous communities of Spain by active enterprises, 2021}},
  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-regions?period=2021. 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): Autonomous communities of Spain by active enterprises, 2021
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-regions?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/active-enterprises/spain-regions?period=2021.
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 autonomous community has the highest active enterprises?

Catalonia, with 635,587 in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which autonomous community has the lowest active enterprises?

Ceuta, with 3,707 in 2021.

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.