ACRONYMS National Statistics Institute
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3 June 2026

Structural Statistics of Companies: Construction Sector

Year 2024

Main results

  • Turnover of companies in the Construction sector stood at 205,204 million euros in 2024.
  • The added value of the Construction Sector stood at 66,024 million euros.
  • The autonomous communities with the greatest participation in turnover for the Construction Sector were Comunidad de Madrid (25.0% of the total), Cataluña (16.3%) and Andalucía (13.5%).
  • The INE publishes the SBS [Structural Business Statistics]: Construction Sector today for the first time, replacing the Survey of the Structure of the Construction Industry (EEIC in its Spanish initials), which was formerly conducted by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility until 2023, the baseline year.

Turnover of companies in the Construction Sector amounted to 205,204 million euros in 2024.

The value added generated by these companies stood at 66,024 million and their gross operating surplus was 24,153 million euros.

Construction Sector. Main magnitudes. 2024

Note: The annual variation has been estimated by minimising as much as possible the methodological differences between 2023 and 2024, mentioned in the information annex of this press release.

One salient feature of the Construction Sector was the predominance of very small companies. In 2024, 94.9% of the companies had fewer than 10 employees. These enterprises employed 44.9% of the sector's personnel and their turnover accounted for 38.4% of the total number. 

On the other hand, companies with 250 or more employees, which represented less than 0.1% of the total, employed 12.6% of the workforce and generated 20.2% of the sector's turnover. 

Construction Sector. Main magnitudes by size of company. 2024

Absolute values and percentage change

Results by segments of activity

Building construction accounted for 50.0% of the turnover of the Construction Sector and 38.9% of the workforce employed in 2024. Five out of 10 companies in the sector performed this type of activity.

Another 33.9% of the sector's revenue was in Specialised construction activities. These companies employed 50.9% of the total personnel.

Meanwhile, the turnover of Civil engineering made up 16.2% of the total. This activity employed 10.2% of the sector's personnel.

Results by divisions of activity. 2024

Results by branch of activity

The branches of activity that contributed most to the turnover of the Construction Sector in 2024 were Building construction (with 30.3% of the total), Real estate development (19.6%) and Electrical, plumbing and other installations in construction works (19.1%).

The sectors that employed the largest number of people were Building construction (35.2% of the total), Electrical, plumbing and other installations in construction works (26.8%) and Building finishes (12.4%).

Productivity

Productivity (value added per employed person) for the Construction Sector was 49,513 euros in 2024.

The activity groups with the highest productivity were Real estate development (180,303 euros), Construction of roads and railways, bridges and tunnels (71,556) and Construction of other civil engineering projects (65,456).

Meanwhile, the least productive activity groups were Building finishes (33,793 euros per employed person), Building construction (40,828) and Other specialised construction activities (42,983).

Geographical destination of sales

In 2024, 4.9% of the sales of companies in the Construction Sector were made outside Spain. 1.8% went to European Union countries and 3.1% to the rest of the world.

The groups of activity with the highest percentage of sales outside Spain were Construction of roads and railways, bridges and tunnels (23.2% of the total) and Network construction (15.4%).

Groups of activity with the highest percentage of sales outside Spain. 2024

Percentage

Investment in tangible assets

The investment in tangible assets made by the companies in the Construction Sector was 7,122 million euros in 2024. 32.9% was carried out by companies in Building construction and 12.3% of those of Specialised construction activities.

Investment in tangible assets represented 10.8% of the value added of the sector.

Investment in tangible assets by activity division. 2024

Results by Autonomous Community

The autonomous communities with the greatest participation in turnover for the Trade Sector in the year 2024 were Comunidad de Madrid (25.0% of the total), Cataluña (16.3%) and Andalucía (13.5%).

In turn, those with the least weight were La Rioja (0.4%), Cantabria (0.9%) and Extremadura (1.3%).

In terms of employment, in Comunidad de Madrid 17.0% were employed in the Construction Sector, whereas in Cataluña the figure was 16.3% and in Andalucía, 16.1%.

Construction Sector by Autonomous Communities and Cities. 2024

Note: To obtain results by autonomous communities, the Local Unit whose main activity is Construction is considered a statistical unit. It is a different approach than the one used for the national data on the Construction Sector, based on the Statistical Enterprise, which brings together under its main activity the economic and employment data of the legal units that form it, and which may be of another activity different from construction.

Informative Annex. Main characteristics of the SBS: Construction Sector

The INE is publishing today for the first time the Structural Business Statistics (SBS): Construction Sector. This is an annual statistic that allows us to know the main structural and economic characteristics of companies in the sector. It replaces the Survey of the Structure of the Construction Industry (EEIC in its Spanish initials), which was formerly conducted by the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility (MTSM) until 2023, the baseline year.

The transfer of this statistical operation from the MTSM to the INE is the result of the agreement reached between both parties, which was formalised in the agreement signed on 21 May 2025, by which the EEIC became the responsibility of the INE under the name of Structural Business Statistics: Construction Sector.

The purpose of this transfer was the integration and harmonization of the SBS: Construction Sector with the SBSs of Industry, Trade and Services, promoting the application of common methodologies and the standardisation of production and dissemination processes, resulting in greater coherence and comparability of information.

The incorporation of this operation into the INE has been carried out as follows:

In the 2024 reference year, a co-responsibility was established between the MTSM and INE. For this year, there was a complete overhaul to the questionnaire, adapting it to the approach used for INE structural statistics. The applied sampling design is based on stratified random sampling, following the same criteria already used in the EEIC. The collection of information, still under the competence of the MTSM, was carried out through direct collection and using the new questionnaire. For 2024, the collection of information in the Basque Country was carried out exclusively by the Basque Institute of Statistics, Eustat. From 2025 onwards, the collection of information will be the sole responsibility of the INE.

All subsequent phases in the year 2024 have already been undertaken by the INE (from data processing, results obtaining and dissemination) with the same approach as the other SBS.

From the 2025 reference year onwards, the statistics will be fully integrated into the INE in all its phases, adopting the same methods and procedures that have already been used in the structural business statistics of the INE.

Comparability of the results

Since this is the first time this operation has been published within the INE, the results are not strictly comparable with those of the previous series. In particular, from the 2024 reference year (in this publication and in the future) onwards, the data are prepared in terms of Statistical Enterprise, to be consistent with the approach adopted by the INE in its structural business statistics, while the EEIC disseminated them in terms of Legal Units.

For more information, please refer to the document Structural Business Statistics.Methodology.

Data revisions and updates

The data published today are final. All the results of this operation are available at INEBase.

In accordance with the Commission's Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/137, the INE has begun to work on incorporating the new National Classification of Economic Activities CNAE-2025 in all its statistical operations.

In the case of the Structural Business Statistics: Construction Sector, the first publication of results with CNAE-2025 will be carried out in 2027, in line with the rest of the structural statistics of companies (industry, trade and services sectors).

Methodological note

SBS: The Construction Sector is a statistical operation of a structural nature and annual periodicity aimed at companies dedicated to Construction, which includes the construction of buildings, civil engineering and specialised construction activities.

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.

Type of operation
annual continuous operation.
Population scope
companies whose main activity is described in section F of CNAE-2009.
Geographical scope
the entire national territory.
Reference period
the calendar year, which, with some exceptions, coincides with the enterprise’s accounting year.
Sample size
19,874 units.
Collection method
online completion of the questionnaire by the respondent (IRIA system).

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 the Code of Best Practices.

For further information see Inicio INEbase Official INE account on @es_ine
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