The number of new mercantile companies rose by 7.9% in February compared with the same month a year earlier, reaching a total of 10,960 firms. This marks the highest February total since 2008, according to data released on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
With February’s uptick, business creation has now posted two consecutive year‑over‑year increases after January’s 13.1% growth, a month that also saw the largest number of new companies since 2008.
For the 10,960 firms created in February, subscriptions totalled more than 527.9 million euros, up 53.1% from February 2023, while the average subscribed capital stood at 48,172 euros, up 41.9%.
On the other hand, the dissolution of companies declined by 5.9% year over year in February, with 2,545 corporations disappearing. In effect, 88 companies closed per day during February.
Of the 2,545 dissolutions in February, 84.9% were voluntary, 7% resulted from merges with other firms, and the remaining 8.1% were due to other causes.
In February, 18.4% of newly created mercantile societies operated in retail trade and 17.1% in real estate, financial services, and insurance. Regarding dissolutions by primary economic activity, 19.7% belonged to commerce and 18.5% to construction.
Conversely, the number of capital increases in mercantile firms rose by 3.9% year over year in February, reaching 3,004 companies. The capital subscribed in these increases exceeded 2.991 billion euros, a figure 33.8% higher than in February 2023, while the average capital per increase was 995,861 euros, up 28.7%.
Asturias and the Basque Country lead rankings
Among the communities that created the most companies in February were Madrid with 2,720 new firms, Catalonia with 2,032, and Andalusia with 1,616.
Regions with the smallest corporate creation in February were La Rioja (40), Cantabria (68), and Navarra (82).
Statistics show that eleven communities created more companies in February than in February 2023, five posted year‑over‑year declines, and Cantabria was the only one that did not register any change.
Asturias (+22%), the Basque Country (+20.4%), Aragon (+16.6%), and the Valencian Community (+15.3%) posted the strongest increases in company formation, while Galicia (+2.1%) and the Balearic Islands (+3.4%) saw more modest gains. Conversely, Navarra (-29.3%), La Rioja (-21.5%), and Murcia (-15%) recorded the steepest year‑over‑year declines.