Autonomous communities of Spain by persons employed, retail trade (Spain)
Catalonia had the highest persons employed, retail trade (Spain) of 17 autonomous communities in 2018, at 302,853. La Rioja had the lowest, at 10,051. The median was 58,608 and the figure for Spain was 1.73 million. Source: the Instituto Nacional de Estadística.
Map of autonomous communities, 2018
- Under 35K
- 35K to 48K
- 48K to 79K
- 79K to 170K
- 170K and over
- No data
All autonomous communities, 2018
Full ranking
| Rank | Autonomous communities | 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Catalonia | 302,853 |
| 2 | Andalusia | 292,833 |
| 3 | Community of Madrid | 256,879 |
| 4 | Valencian Community | 188,607 |
| 5 | Canary Islands | 101,217 |
| 6 | Galicia | 99,864 |
| 7 | Basque Country | 79,688 |
| 8 | Castile and León | 79,053 |
| 9 | Castilla-La Mancha | 58,608 |
| 10 | Region of Murcia | 50,462 |
| 11 | Balearic Islands | 46,365 |
| 12 | Aragon | 45,221 |
| 13 | Asturias | 38,832 |
| 14 | Extremadura | 33,727 |
| 15 | Navarre | 22,166 |
| 16 | Cantabria | 20,624 |
| 17 | La Rioja | 10,051 |
Other periods
About this ranking
Persons employed (personal ocupado: paid staff plus working owners, partners and unpaid family members, full or part time) in the local units of enterprises whose main activity is retail trade (CNAE 2009 division 47), by the comunidad where each local unit is located, from the regional results of the INE structural business statistics for the trade sector (Estadística Estructural de Empresas: Sector Comercio).
Spain only: the country and the 17 comunidades autónomas from 2018, plus Ceuta and Melilla for the sector as a whole. These are INE regional results: each local unit counts where it is located, and figures are not consolidated within enterprise groups, so the Spain total is higher than the national results INE headlines (trade turnover in 2024: EUR 1,068,257 million here, 1,044,477 million in the national results). A sample survey, so small regions can move a lot from one year to the next. Published about 15 months after the reference year.
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). Estadística estructural de empresas, sector comercio: personal ocupado, comercio al por menor (CNAE 47), por comunidad autónoma (tabla 76817). https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Tabla.htm?t=76817. Retrieved 2026-10-12.Citation styles
APA 7
Instituto Nacional de Estadística. (2026). Estadística estructural de empresas, sector comercio: personal ocupado, comercio al por menor (CNAE 47), por comunidad autónoma (tabla 76817) (Autonomous communities of Spain by persons employed, retail trade (Spain), 2018) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Tabla.htm?t=76817
MLA 9
Estadística estructural de empresas, sector comercio: personal ocupado, comercio al por menor (CNAE 47), por comunidad autónoma (tabla 76817), Autonomous communities of Spain by persons employed, retail trade (Spain), 2018. Instituto Nacional de Estadística, 8 Apr. 2026, https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Tabla.htm?t=76817. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-retail-spain/spain-regions?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.
Chicago (author-date)
Instituto Nacional de Estadística. 2026. Estadística estructural de empresas, sector comercio: personal ocupado, comercio al por menor (CNAE 47), por comunidad autónoma (tabla 76817). Autonomous communities of Spain by persons employed, retail trade (Spain), 2018. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Tabla.htm?t=76817. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-retail-spain/spain-regions?period=2018.
Harvard
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (2026) Estadística estructural de empresas, sector comercio: personal ocupado, comercio al por menor (CNAE 47), por comunidad autónoma (tabla 76817), Autonomous communities of Spain by persons employed, retail trade (Spain), 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Tabla.htm?t=76817, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-retail-spain/spain-regions?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{instituto_autonomous_communities_of_spain_2018,
author = {{Instituto Nacional de Estadística}},
title = {{Estadística estructural de empresas, sector comercio: personal ocupado, comercio al por menor (CNAE 47), por comunidad autónoma (tabla 76817): Autonomous communities of Spain by persons employed, retail trade (Spain), 2018}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {Data set},
url = {https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Tabla.htm?t=76817},
urldate = {2026-10-12},
note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-retail-spain/spain-regions?period=2018. Publisher attribution: Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). Estadística estructural de empresas, sector comercio: personal ocupado, comercio al por menor (CNAE 47), por comunidad autónoma (tabla 76817). https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Tabla.htm?t=76817. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY - DATA
AU - Instituto Nacional de Estadística
TI - Estadística estructural de empresas, sector comercio: personal ocupado, comercio al por menor (CNAE 47), por comunidad autónoma (tabla 76817): Autonomous communities of Spain by persons employed, retail trade (Spain), 2018
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/04/08
PB - Instituto Nacional de Estadística
DB - Invokely
UR - https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Tabla.htm?t=76817
L2 - https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-retail-spain/spain-regions?period=2018
Y2 - 2026/10/12
N1 - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/persons-employed-retail-spain/spain-regions?period=2018.
N1 - Publisher attribution: Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). Estadística estructural de empresas, sector comercio: personal ocupado, comercio al por menor (CNAE 47), por comunidad autónoma (tabla 76817). https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Tabla.htm?t=76817. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER -
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Rank Autonomous communities of Spain by persons employed, retail trade (Spain) using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"trade_persons_employed_retail","level":"region","within":"Spain","limit":10}
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Which autonomous community has the highest persons employed, retail trade (Spain)?
Catalonia, with 302,853 in 2018, according to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística.
Which autonomous community has the lowest persons employed, retail trade (Spain)?
La Rioja, with 10,051 in 2018.
Where does this ranking come from?
Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Estadística estructural de empresas, sector comercio: personal ocupado, comercio al por menor (CNAE 47), por comunidad autónoma (tabla 76817). Retrieved 2026-10-12.