Press Release: Short-term statistics on business demography. First and second quarter 2026.

Imagen estadística experimental

Main results

At the start of the first quarter of 2026, 9.5% of employer legal units and 7.7% of self-employed workers ceased their activity by the end of the following quarter.
65.5% of active employer legal units were more than five years old at the onset of 2026.
13.6% of the employer legal units and 5.9% of the self-employed workers who deregistered in the first quarter reactivated in the second.

More information

The Short-term Business Demographics is an experimental statistic based on the methodology of the Central Business Directory (DIRCE in its Spanish initials) and its economic coverage is identical to that of the DIRCE. It provides quarterly information on the creation, survival, reactivation, and closure of legal entities and self-employed workers, as well as on their main economic and socio-demographic characteristics. The methodology was revised in 2026 to adapt it to the current economic reality and information needs.

The analysis focuses on two groups: employer legal units and self-employed workers. The information it uses comes from Social Security records, supplemented with data from the DIRCE and the Municipal Register. The analysis focuses on nearly 1.2 million employer legal units and more than 3.1 million self-employed workers registered with Social Security at the beginning of the year 2026.

Quarterly flows of companies

At the beginning of 2026, there were 1,203,242 employer legal units in Spain. At the end of the first quarter, the net growth rate (difference between registrations and deregistrations relative to the total) was 0.7%. At the close of the second quarter, it was 1.5%.

Regarding employment, 5.2% of the units lost their entire workforce during the first quarter. However, 13.6% of these companies reactivated by rehiring and closing the second quarter with employees.

Employer legal units. Year 2026

Quarterly flows of self-employed workers

At the beginning of 2026, there were 3,152,930 self-employed workers. This figure increased by 0.1% at the end of the first quarter and by a further 0.9% at the end of the second quarter.

Meanwhile, 5.9% of the 148,005 self-employed workers who deregistered in the first quarter re-registered at the end of the second (reactivations).

Self-employed workers. Year 2026

Survival for employer legal units

Survival indicators are calculated as a percentage of the total number of units remaining at the end of each quarter relative to the initial number in the cohort.

After the first two quarters of 2026, the cohort of employer legal units as of 1 January had lost more than 9.0% of its members.

The most critical quarter was the first, with a loss of 5.5% of cohort member (94.5% of the units survived). In the second quarter, the rate of losses slowed.

Survival of employer legal units

Size and age of the employer legal units

A high correlation is observed between the initial number of employees and the probability of survival.

Thus, legal units with fewer than six employees showed the lowest indicators (93.0% in the first quarter and 88.1% in the second). Conversely, units with more than 250 employees returned rates above 99.0%.

Survival of employer legal units by wage earner stratum

{
 "mode": "table",
 "category": [
 "Cohorts 1 January 2026",
 "Survivals First quarter (1 April 2026)",
 "Survivals Second quarter (1 July 2026)",
 "%",
 "Total",
 "1 to 5 employees",
 "6 to 9 employees",
 "10 to 99 employees",
 "100 to 249 employees",
 "250 and more employees"
 ],
 "ids": [
 "table_1_Cohorts _1_January_2026",
 "table_1_Survivals_First_quarter _1_April_2026",
 "table_1_Survivals_Second_quarter _1_July_2026",
 "",
 "table_1_",
 "table_1_",
 "table_1_Total",
 "table_1_1_to_5_employees",
 "table_1_6_to_9_employees",
 "table_1_10_to_99_employees",
 "table_1_100_to_249_employees",
 "table_1_250_and_more_employees"
 ],
 "col": [
 [
 "0",
 ""
 ],
 [
 "1",
 "3"
 ],
 [
 "2",
 "3"
 ]
 ],
 "row": [
 [
 "4"
 ],
 [
 "5"
 ],
 [
 "6"
 ],
 [
 "7"
 ],
 [
 "8"
 ],
 [
 "9"
 ]
 ],
 "data": [
 "1,203,242",
 "94.5",
 "90.6",
 "872,833",
 "93.0",
 "88.1",
 "132,687",
 "98.1",
 "95.9",
 "181,653",
 "98.9",
 "97.6",
 "10,201",
 "99.5",
 "99.2",
 "5,868",
 "99.7",
 "99.4"
 ],
 "textLad": [
 "Size classes",
 ""
 ],
 "title": "",
 "leftSideCols": 1,
 "rowsHeader": 2
}

Regarding age, the group that were over five years in existence had the best performance in the first two quarters of 2026, with survival rates exceeding 96.0%. On the contrary, the younger units (less than five years in existence) experienced the greatest relative losses in cohort members, with survival rates of 92.0% or lower.

Sex and age of self-employed workers

By sex, 62.3% of the self-employed workers in the cohort as of 1 January 2026 were men and 37.7% were women. By age, it is worth highlighting the representation of women in the 30 to 39 age group, where they accounted for 41.6% of the total.

Self-employed workers according to sex and age range

The cohort as of 1 January 2026

{
  "mode": "table",
  "category": [
    "Both genders",
    "Men(%)",
    "Women(%)",
    "Total",
    "Less than 30 years",
    "30 to 39 years",
    "40 to 49 years",
    "50 to 59 years",
    "60 and more years"
  ],
  "ids": [
    "table_1_Both_genders",
    "table_1_Men",
    "table_1_Women",
    "table_1_Total",
    "table_1_Less_than_30_years",
    "table_1_30_to_39_years",
    "table_1_40_to_49_years",
    "table_1_50_to_59_years",
    "table_1_60_and_more_years"
  ],
  "col": [
    [
      "0"
    ],
    [
      "1"
    ],
    [
      "2"
    ]
  ],
  "row": [
    [
      "3"
    ],
    [
      "4"
    ],
    [
      "5"
    ],
    [
      "6"
    ],
    [
      "7"
    ],
    [
      "8"
    ]
  ],
  "data": [
    "3,152,930",
    "62.3",
    "37.7",
    "222,515",
    "61.9",
    "38.1",
    "540,771",
    "58.4",
    "41.6",
    "899,258",
    "61.7",
    "38.3",
    "949,089",
    "63.5",
    "36.5",
    "541,297",
    "65.1",
    "34.9"
  ],
  "textLad": [
    "Size classes"
  ],
  "title": "",
  "leftSideCols": 1,
  "rowsHeader": 1
}

Survival of self-employed workers

The cohort of self-employed workers as of 1 January 2026 lost 7.7% of its members after two quarters. The first quarter was, once again, the most critical, accounting for a 4.7% loss.

Survival of self-employed workers

By sex, survival rates were slightly higher in men.

Survival of self-employed workers by sex

{
  "mode": "table",
  "category": [
    "Total units",
    "Monitoring quarters",
    "Quarter 1(%)",
    "Quarter 2(%)",
    "1 January 2026",
    "Total",
    "Men",
    "Women",
    "1 April   2026"
  ],
  "ids": [
    "table_1_Total_units",
    "table_1_Monitoring_quarters",
    "",
    "",
    "table_1_Quarter_1",
    "table_1_Quarter_2",
    "table_1_1_January_2026",
    "table_1_Total",
    "",
    "table_1_Men",
    "",
    "table_1_Women",
    "table_1_1_April___2026",
    "table_1_Total",
    "",
    "table_1_Men",
    "",
    "table_1_Women"
  ],
  "col": [
    [
      "0",
      ""
    ],
    [
      "1",
      "2"
    ],
    [
      "",
      "3"
    ]
  ],
  "row": [
    [
      "4",
      "5"
    ],
    [
      "",
      "6"
    ],
    [
      "",
      "7"
    ],
    [
      "8",
      "5"
    ],
    [
      "",
      "6"
    ],
    [
      "",
      "7"
    ]
  ],
  "data": [
    "3,152,930",
    "95.3",
    "92.4",
    "1,963,343",
    "95.5",
    "92.8",
    "1,189,587",
    "95.0",
    "91.6",
    "3,156,533",
    "96.7",
    "",
    "1,963,778",
    "96.9",
    "",
    "1,192,755",
    "96.2",
    ""
  ],
  "textLad": [
    "Cohorts",
    "Classification by longevity",
    "",
    ""
  ],
  "title": "",
  "leftSideCols": 2,
  "rowsHeader": 2
}

By age, the 50 to 59 age group showed the best progress. On the contrary, those under 30 years of age experienced the greatest relative losses in numbers.

Survival of self-employed workers by age

Reference cohort 1 January 2026

{
 "mode": "table",
 "category": [
 "Cohorts 1 January 2026",
 "Survivals First quarter (1 April 2026)",
 "Survivals Second quarter (1 July 2026)",
 "%",
 "Total",
 "Less than 30 years",
 "30 to 39 years",
 "40 to 49 years",
 "50 to 59 years",
 "60 and more years"
 ],
 "ids": [
 "table_1_Cohorts _1_January_2026",
 "table_1_Survivals_First_quarter _1_April_2026",
 "table_1_Survivals_Second_quarter _1_July_2026",
 "",
 "table_1_",
 "table_1_",
 "table_1_Total",
 "table_1_Less_than_30_years",
 "table_1_30_to_39_years",
 "table_1_40_to_49_years",
 "table_1_50_to_59_years",
 "table_1_60_and_more_years"
 ],
 "col": [
 [
 "0",
 ""
 ],
 [
 "1",
 "3"
 ],
 [
 "2",
 "3"
 ]
 ],
 "row": [
 [
 "4"
 ],
 [
 "5"
 ],
 [
 "6"
 ],
 [
 "7"
 ],
 [
 "8"
 ],
 [
 "9"
 ]
 ],
 "data": [
 "3,152,930",
 "95.3",
 "92.4",
 "222,515",
 "91.0",
 "85.5",
 "540,771",
 "94.3",
 "90.6",
 "899,258",
 "96.1",
 "93.4",
 "949,089",
 "96.9",
 "94.8",
 "541,297",
 "94.1",
 "90.7"
 ],
 "textLad": [
 "Age",
 ""
 ],
 "title": "",
 "leftSideCols": 1,
 "rowsHeader": 2
}

Results by autonomous communities and cities

The regions with the highest net growth rates of units in the first quarter of 2026 were Illes Balears (6.2%), Andalucía and Cantabria (1.3% each).

By contrast, the País Vasco, the Autonomous City of Melilla (both -0.4%) and Canarias (-0.3%) returned the most negative rates.

Results for the five largest municipalities

If the data from the five largest municipalities in Spain are analysed, the highest percentages of company registrations were recorded in Valencia in the first quarter (6.1%) and in the second (5.4%).

As for self-employed workers, the largest increases were seen in Barcelona in the first quarter (6.0%) and in the second (4.9%).

In contrast, the highest percentages of deregistrations of employer legal units were recorded in Valencia in the first quarter (5.8%) and in Sevilla in the second (5.2%).

Regarding self-employed workers, the highest percentages of deregistrations were recorded in Barcelona in the first quarter (5.4%) and in Valencia, Barcelona, and Madrid in the second quarter (3.6% in all three municipalities).

Data revisions and updates

The data published today are final. All results of this operation are available on INEbase.

Methodological note

The Short-term Business Demographics experimental statistics will henceforth be published quarterly. Today, data is presented for the first two quarters of 2026.

In this operation, the data of employer companies always refer to legal units. "Registrations" are considered to be legal entities that did not provide employment at the beginning of the quarter, have hired workers, and still provide employment at the end of the quarter. Similarly, "Deregistrations" are considered to be legal units providing employment at the beginning of the quarter, but which have stopped providing all employment during the same period.

Therefore, the occurrence of Registration and Deregistrations do not necessarily mean that the legal entity has been established/dissolved or has been involved in any process that involves a redistribution of production factors (merger, absorption, etc.). The employment factor is the determinant in identifying demographic flow.

With regard to self-employed workers, "Registrations" are considered to be those natural persons not registered in the RETA [Régimen Especial de Trabajadores Autónomos - Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers] file at the beginning of the quarter and registered in it at the end of the quarter. Similarly, "Deregistrations" are considered to be individuals registered in the RETA file at the beginning of the quarter, but who deregister during the quarter.

The detailed methodology document can be accessed in the project.

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.