Press Release: Harmonised Business Demography . Year 2022.

Main results

3,487,503 enterprises were economically active in Spain in 2022.
301,406 were created whereas 299,680 disappeared, which meant a net rate of 0.05%.
43.8% of the enterprises born in 2017 survived after five years of observation.

More information

The stock of economically active enterprises operating in Spain over the year 2022 was 3,487,503. This number includes both enterprises that were economically active for the entire year and those that were economically active for part of the year.

61.8% of the stock belonged to enterprises in the Rest of the services sector, 20.7% to Trade, 12.0% to Construction and the remaining 5.5% to Industry.

In 2022, 301,406 enterprises were created and 299,680 disappeared. As a result, there was a positive net balance of 1,726 units.

By sector, Construction showed the best demographic balance (1.2%), while Trade showed the worst (-2.2%).

Stock, enterprise births and deaths by economic sectors. Year 2022

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    "722,387",
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    "9,652",
    "39,177",
    "52,521",
    "200,056",
    "299,680",
    "11,498",
    "34,073",
    "68,116",
    "185,993",
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Enterprise births and deaths (thousands)

Net balance of enterprise births and deaths (thousands)

Enterprise birth rate (births as a percentage of the population of active enterprises) was 8.64%. On the other hand, enterprise death rate was 8.59%. As a result, the net rate was 0.05%.

Enterprise births and deaths rates (percentage)

Enterprise births and deaths net rates (percentage)

Results by size class (number of employees)

In 2022, 98.3% of enterprise births and 98.4% of enterprise deaths had four or less employees.

Specifically, 75.4% of enterprise births and 72.7% of enterprise deaths had no employees.

Enterprises without employees showed the highest positive difference between enterprise births and deaths, reaching a net rate of 0.5%. Enterprises with one to four employees showed the highest negative difference, reaching a net rate of -0.63%.

Stock, enterprise births and deaths by size class. Year 2022

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    "1,898,572",
    "1,234,081",
    "187,734",
    "167,116",
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    "227,324",
    "69,041",
    "3,981",
    "1,060",
    "299,680",
    "217,914",
    "76,877",
    "3,830",
    "1,059",
    "1,726",
    "9,410",
    "-7,836",
    "151",
    "1",
    "8.6",
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    "11.5",
    "6.2",
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Survivals of enterprise births

The first year of life is when there is the highest fall of enterprise units, with survival rates of 78.5% or lower.

It can be highlighted that enterprises that make up the populations of births in 2017 and 2018 are reduced to less than half after four years.

The following data table has been obtained from a time monitoring of enterprises born in a given year. Survival indicators have been calculated for a maximum period of five years.

Survivals of enterprises born from 2017 (percentage)

Disappearances of enterprises in the first years of life

Analysing the loss of members of different cohorts of enterprises in more detail, the following data table shows disappearances of enterprises in their first three years of life, taking as a reference the cohorts of enterprises born in 12 consecutive years.

Disappearances of enterprises in the first three years of life (Percentage)

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    "14.8",
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    "12.7",
    "10.9",
    "45.1",
    "23.1",
    "13.4",
    "8.2",
    "44.7",
    "24.5",
    "12.4",
    "8.2",
    "45.1",
    "23.5",
    "12.4",
    "8.1",
    "44.0",
    "22.7",
    "12.3",
    "8.7",
    "43.7",
    "23.5",
    "14.2",
    "8.8",
    "46.5",
    "22.6",
    "12.3",
    "9.8",
    "44.6",
    "24.0",
    "12.5",
    "8.5",
    "45.1",
    "24.2",
    "14.0",
    "9.4",
    "47.5",
    "23.5",
    "14.1",
    "10.4",
    "48.0",
    "23.2",
    "13.2",
    "9.1",
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As regards the accumulated disappearances in the first three years of enterprises’ life, it can be pointed out that mortality reached the highest level in 2010.

Accumulated disappearances of enterprises in the first three years of life, by year of birth (percentage)

Results by autonomous communities and cities

Regarding the territory where enterprises had their head offices, Illes Balears and Canarias (10.8% both) and the autonomous city of Melilla (10.2%) showed the highest birth rates in 2022.

On the other hand, the lowest rates happened in La Rioja (5.8%), Castilla y León (6.4%) and Comunidad Foral de Navarra (6.6%).

The highest death rates were recorded in the autonomous cities of Melilla (11.5%) and Ceuta (10.5%), and in Comunitat Valenciana (9.3%) while the lowest were recorded in Comunidad Foral de Navarra (6.9%), País Vasco and Cantabria (7.1% both).

Stock, enterprise births and deaths by autonomous communities and cities. Year 2022

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    "301,406",
    "299,680",
    "1,726",
    "8.6",
    "8.6",
    "0.05",
    "571,510",
    "54,025",
    "52,019",
    "2,006",
    "9.5",
    "9.1",
    "0.4",
    "88,995",
    "6,110",
    "6,542",
    "-432",
    "6.9",
    "7.4",
    "-0.5",
    "69,811",
    "4,772",
    "5,632",
    "-860",
    "6.8",
    "8.1",
    "-1.2",
    "107,734",
    "11,624",
    "9,784",
    "1,840",
    "10.8",
    "9.1",
    "1.7",
    "152,640",
    "16,454",
    "13,984",
    "2,470",
    "10.8",
    "9.2",
    "1.6",
    "40,370",
    "2,869",
    "2,876",
    "-7",
    "7.1",
    "7.1",
    "0.0",
    "156,230",
    "10,016",
    "11,452",
    "-1,436",
    "6.4",
    "7.3",
    "-0.9",
    "133,226",
    "10,201",
    "11,343",
    "-1,142",
    "7.7",
    "8.5",
    "-0.9",
    "644,491",
    "55,528",
    "56,410",
    "-882",
    "8.6",
    "8.8",
    "-0.1",
    "388,314",
    "36,795",
    "36,291",
    "504",
    "9.5",
    "9.3",
    "0.1",
    "68,218",
    "5,238",
    "5,629",
    "-391",
    "7.7",
    "8.3",
    "-0.6",
    "198,818",
    "14,156",
    "15,212",
    "-1,056",
    "7.1",
    "7.7",
    "-0.5",
    "548,738",
    "49,472",
    "47,504",
    "1,968",
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    "8.7",
    "0.4",
    "99,964",
    "8,667",
    "9,125",
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    "43,594",
    "2,887",
    "3,020",
    "-133",
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    "6.9",
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    "10,444",
    "10,184",
    "260",
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    "1,322",
    "1,731",
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    "330",
    "383",
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It should be pointed out that the stock of enterprises is subject to changes that are not completely determined by demographic events. Phenomena of entry/exit of units into/from the coverage of economic activities, territorial movements or restructurings in enterprise groups should also be considered.

Data updating and revisions

There is no data revision, although data relative to enterprise deaths are provisional, since those deaths are considered definitive after two years from the reference period. It is necessary to exclude enterprises that reactivate in the two years following the year in which they die.

Data are estimated by taking enterprise deaths detected in 2022 and that have not been reactivated in 2023. On that base population, a random exclusion of a small percentage of units is performed, in accordance with the experience of previous years on reactivations in the second year. The results show irrelevant differences between final and provisional data.

Data presented here use the same adapted enterprise concept which was implemented for the reference year 2018. All results of this operation are available on INEBase.

Methodological Note

Harmonised Business Demography provides aggregated information regarding the population of enterprises located in the national territory, considering aspects linked to business dynamism and applying a methodology as agreed within the scope of the European Union.

The delimitation of populations of interest is carried out by means of an ordered set of procedures varying in nature, designed in accordance with the harmonised methodology principles. Basically, the work is geared towards identifying the following aggregates:

Stock of enterprises: Set of units that have been economically active during all or part of the reference year.
Enterprise births: Set of units that, throughout the reference year, have created a combination of new production factors.
Enterprise deaths: Set of units that, throughout the reference year, have dissolved all of their production factors.
Surviving enterprises: Restricted to each cohort of births, this corresponds to the set of units that continue to be economically active in each of the five years following that of birth.

Business Demography analysis is not limited to just quantifying flows obtained during the processes of updating the Statistical Business Register (see CBR movements disseminated in the statistical operation Statistical Use of the CBR), since although the analysis of movements from administrative sources provides an initial preview of units’ renewal processes, the statistical work to be carried out for obtaining Business Demographic Indicators demands an additional effort, adding value to administrative information.

Indicators proposed in the methodology quantify the relative relevance of events of creation and destruction of enterprises within the Spanish entrepreneurial frame. The survival event is similar, but takes as reference the population of enterprise births detected in the initial observarion period.

More information on the methodology and the standardised methodological report.

INE statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Good Practice for European Statistics. More information on Quality at INE and Code of Best Practices.