Instituto Nacional de Estadística
Turnover of companies in the Trade Sector stood at 1,013,169 million euros in 2023, which represented an increase of 6.1% as compared with the previous year. The added value generated by these businesses increased in a 8.6% and its gross operating surplus in a 10.0%.
The Trade Sector is characterised by the predominance of very small businesses. In 2023, 94.8% of the companies had fewer than 10 employees. These small businesses employed 37.7% of the sector's workforce and their turnover accounted for 22.4% of the total.
On the other hand, companies with 250 or more employees, which represented 0.1% of the total, employed 33.1% of the workforce and generated 37.1% of the sector's turnover.
Absolute values and percentage distribution
The businesses number increased in the three Trade activity divisions in 2023. The largest increase was in Sales and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles ( 13.1%). In Wholesale trade and trade intermediaries, except for motor vehicles and motorcycles the increase was 5.5%.
The wholesale businesses accounted for 59.8% of the total turnover of the sector and 36.0% of the employed personnel.
Retail trade, except motor vehicles and motorcycles, represented 29.9% of the sector's turnover and 54.4% of the total employment. Its turnover increased in a 5.0%. Six out of 10 companies in the sector were retailers.
The activity groups with the highest contribution to the total turnover of the sector in 2023 were Other specialised wholesale trade (18.9%), Wholesale trade of food, beverages, and tobacco products (15.9%), and Wholesale trade of household goods (12.6%).
The activity groups that increased their turnover the most in 2023 were Sale, maintenance and repair of motorcycles and their parts and accessories (29.7%) and Trade intermediaries (15.3%).
In contrast, the activity group with the largest decrease was Retail sale of motor fuel in specialised shops (-8.5%).
Productivity (value added per employed person) for the Trade sector was 46,723 euros in 2023, with an increase of 8.6% compared to the previous year.
The activity groups with the highest productivity were Wholesale trade of household goods (82,347 euros), and Wholesale trade of information and communication technology equipment (81,465 euros).
In turn, the least productive activities were Retail sale via stalls and markets (10,585 euros), and Retail sale of food, beverages, and tobacco in specialised stores (21,569 euros).
In 2023, 87.0% of sales in the Trade sector were within Spain, 6.8% went to other European Union countries, and 6.2% to the rest of the world.
The groups of activity with the highest percentage of sales outside of Spain was Other specialised wholesale trade (21.7%).
Investment in tangible assets carried out by the Trade Sector increased up to 13,186 million euros in 2023. 48.3% came from companies in the area of Wholesale trade and trade intermediaries, except motor vehicles and motorcycles, and 42.8% in Retail trade, except motor vehicles and motorcycles.
Investment in tangible assets represented 9.0% of the value added of Trade companies.
The autonomous communities with the greatest participation in turnover for the Trade Sector in the year 2023 were Comunidad de Madrid (with 24.9% of the total), Cataluña (19.5%) and Andalucía (12.8%).
In turn, those with the least weight were La Rioja (0.4%) and Cantabria (0.9%).
In terms of personnel employed, Cataluña accounted for 18.6% of total employment, Andalucía 16.6% and Comunidad de Madrid 15.8%.
Note: To obtain results by autonomous communities, the Local Unit whose main activity is Trade is considered a statistical unit. These local units may be part of companies whose activities are included in other sectors and, in such cases, their data at the company level is not included in the Trade sector. Another difference between regional data (by local units) and national data (by companies) is that only in the latter is it necessary to apply internal flow consolidations to each company. This explains why the total turnover is slightly higher in regional data than in national data.
The data published today are final. All the results of this operation are available on INEBase.
Structural Business Statistics: Trade Sector is an annual structural statistical operation aimed at companies engaged in Trade, which includes wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, wholesale trade and commission trade, and retail trade.
This operation allows us to ascertain the main structural and economic characteristics of companies in the sector under study by means of a broad set of variables relating to employed personnel, turnover and other income, purchases and consumption, personnel expenses, taxes and investments. The statistic includes economic aggregates such as the value of production and gross value added, as well as the main indicators.
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.
Official INE account on
@es_ine