Companies based in Catalonia: figures increase by 5.6% in three years

• The number of companies based in Catalonia was 608,891 at the start of 2017
• Catalonia has the largest number of active companies in the entire country, with 18.5%

The number of active companies based in Catalonia grew by 5.6% between 2014 and 2017, according to data published in the Central Business Directory (Dirce), and prepared by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) and which includes the  Industrial Climate in Catalonia report, which was compiled by the Department of Vice-presidency and Economy and Finance of the Catalan Government.

It should be noted that between January 2014 and January 2017 the number of Catalan companies grew by 5.6%, while growth in Spain stood at four tenths below this figure. The number of active companies based in Catalonia is now registered at 608,891, a level almost equal to that of 2010, when Catalan-based companies totalled 609,670.

According to data from the report, Spain has been registering a slowdown since 2014, when the number of active companies in Catalonia rose by 1.4%, while in Spain the figure was 2.2%. In the following years, however, development in terms of Catalan-based companies saw a growth of 2% in 2015 and 2.1% in 2016, which was a more positive trend than in the rest of the country (1.6 % in 2015 and 1.4% in 2016).

In regional terms, earlier this year, Catalonia had the highest number of active companies in Spain as a whole with, 18.5%, keeping ahead of the Community of Madrid, with its 16% share of national totals.

[10/20/2017]