Malaga leads the growth in the number of self-employed workers over the last decade

There are now 146,234 self-employed workers in the province, according to the latest figures from the ministry of inclusion, social security and migration. This figure represents a 33.2% increase compared with a decade ago. This, in turn, means that the rate of growth is more than triple the national average (8.34%).

This is because, across Spain as a whole, there are more than 20 provinces in which the number of self-employed workers has fallen over the last ten years. Lugo, Palencia, Zamora, Ourense, Teruel and León are all examples of where the number of self-employed workers has fallen by more than 10% since 2016. In this latest list detailing the declines that have occurred, there are no Andalusian provinces.

Meanwhile, in the ranking of growth rates, Cadiz follows Malaga, with the number of self-employed workers there having risen by 18.5%. Alongside Malaga and Cadiz, the other Spanish provinces that stand out are Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Las Palmas, Alicante, the Balearic Islands and Madrid.

In Malaga, this percentage increase means that, as of July 2026, there are 36,453 more self-employed workers than there were ten years ago. This means that, whilst in percentage terms it is the province with the highest increase in the number of self-employed workers, in absolute terms it ranks second, behind only Madrid (with 69,171 more self-employed workers, bringing the total to over 445,100), and ahead of Barcelona (where there are 33,586 more self-employed workers than in 2016, bringing the total to 423,000).

Malaga is therefore the fifth province in Spain in terms of the number of self-employed people (it is the sixth in terms of population) and the top province in Andalucía, ahead of Seville, where there are 122,629 self-employed people.

However, it also appears that, in recent times, Malaga has been losing momentum in the growth rate of self-employment and is ceding the lead to other regions. Over the last twelve months, the province ranks third in terms of the relative increase in the number of self-employed workers (3.3%), behind Alicante and Valencia. In absolute terms, however, with 4,634 more self-employed workers, it has fallen to fifth place, behind Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Alicante.

If we take the figures for the year to date as a reference, the province ranks seventh in terms of percentage growth (2.15 per cent), above the national average of 1.35%, but behind the 8% rise recorded in the Balearic Islands and figures above 3% in Girona and Alicante.

In absolute terms, the increase of 3,537 self-employed workers places Malaga sixth in the ranking, behind the Balearic Islands, Barcelona, Alicante, Madrid and Valencia.

Explosive growth rates cannot be sustained indefinitely. And although it has dropped down the rankings, the province of Malaga remains well placed when it comes to producing new small business owners.

In any case, the overall picture for the last decade remains excellent for Malaga. This is due to the contribution made by various economic sectors – indeed, almost all of them.

The sector with the highest number of self-employed workers remains retail, with 27,252, but this figure is 12.7% lower than it was a decade ago. It therefore stands out as an exception among the sectors.

In any case, despite this decline, this sector has proved more resilient on the Costa del Sol than in Spain as a whole, where the number of self-employed people in this sector has fallen by more than 20% over the last ten years.

The second most important sector for self-employed workers in Malaga is construction, where 16,785 people are employed. In this case, the figure is indeed higher than it was ten years ago: the number of self-employed workers in this sector is 45% higher than it was in 2016. Here, the province shows particularly strong growth compared with Spain as a whole, where the increase in the number of self-employed workers is limited to 13.8%.

In third place in terms of importance are professional, scientific and technical activities, with 15,685 self-employed workers in July 2026, representing an 80% increase on the figure from ten years earlier; this growth is more modest at national level (36%).

In addition, there are more than 8,000 self-employed workers engaged in administrative activities and other support services, a figure representing growth of over 40% compared with 2016.

Furthermore, healthcare and social services-related activities have grown by 55% in Malaga, exceeding 7,000 self-employed workers.

Meanwhile, nearly 4,500 are active in the education sector, 85 per cent more than a decade ago.

Ranking fourth, behind retail, construction and professional services, is the hospitality sector, with 15,395 self-employed workers in the province, according to the latest figures published by the Social Security authorities. Once again, this is a sector which, whilst the number of self-employed workers has fallen across Spain as a whole (-1.15%), continues to rise in Malaga, having grown by 8.5% over the last ten years.

The one sector that continues to grow is the property sector, which over the last ten years has continued to take on self-employed workers, with an explosive increase of 190 per cent, reaching 8,731 in the province. Across Spain as a whole, the figure has not quite tripled, but it has more than doubled (136 per cent, to just over 91,000).

Another sector that has also flourished over the last decade, although not quite to the same extent as the property sector, has been transport and logistics, in tandem with the growth of e-commerce and the increasing importance of distribution. There are now almost 8,500 self-employed workers in the province, representing a 40% increase over the last ten years, whilst across Spain as a whole the rise has been limited to 10%.

Its critical mass is lower, but it is also worth noting that sectors linked to information and telecommunications have more than doubled the number of self-employed workers in the province, exceeding 4,200.

Thus, Malaga’s leading position in the self-employment rankings is due to the fact that sectors which are struggling at national level are holding up better in the province, whilst those currently experiencing growth are performing even more strongly in Malaga.