Malaga business creation hits 25-year high with over 8,000 new firms in 2025
The Costa del Sol province now accounts for 37% of all new companies in Andalucía, outperforming the economic boom years of the early 2000s
Malaga province has shattered its historical records for entrepreneurship. In 2025, for the first time since records began at Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) in 2000, the number of new trading companies exceeded the 8,000 mark.
With 8,012 new firms registered - a 6.25% increase over the previous year - Malaga has surpassed the business activity of the early 2000s "boom" and doubled the figures seen during the 2008 financial crisis.
Malaga remains a powerhouse in the national ranking, trailing only the major capital hubs of Madrid (28,348) and Barcelona (19,863 for the number of start ups.
In Seville, the number of new companies registered in the last year did not even reach 5,000. With 21,503 new businesses created across all Andalucía, Malaga province now accounts for over 37 per cent of that total.
For Natalia Sánchez, vice-president of Malaga's confederation of entrepreneurs and business owners (CEM), all these figures demonstrate the continued "dynamism in business creation in Malaga".
She asserts that this is "down to two factors: firstly, the entrepreneurial spirit of the local population and, secondly, the area's attractiveness to people and businesses from other areas.
"Malaga continues to grow because of the security it provides, making it possible to develop new business projects here."
37 per cent of businesses set up across Andalucía
did so in Malaga province, also making it third in Spain for new company start-ups.
Despite the record numbers, experts point to "weak points" in the statistics. Last year also saw a record 1,500 company dissolutions, leaving a net creation of 6,152 firms.
Manuel Méndez, Dean of Malaga’s College of Economists, suggests the high closure rate may be due to tax authorities flushing out "shell companies" with no real activity.
And he warns that start-up capital remains low: roughly a third of new firms launch with the legal minimum of €3,000, suggesting many are small-scale structures rather than large-scale investments.
Fernando Cubillo, Secretary-General of the CCOO trade union, expressed concern over the lack of industrial space and the scarcity of corporate head offices in the province, which he believes hinders long-term management growth.
