The drivers of business profitability in Spain: Size, sector and regional dynamics
Business profitability
Fecha: enero 2026
Joaquín Maudos
SEFO, Spanish and International Economic & Financial Outlook, V. 15 N.º1 (January 2026)
Spanish business profitability follows a clearly procyclical pattern, with the average return on investment reaching 6.7% in 2024, matching levels last observed in 2008 after more than a decade marked by crisis-related volatility. Beneath this aggregate recovery, however, profitability remains highly uneven across sectors, regions, and firm sizes, reflecting persistent differences in productivity, capital intensity, exposure to competition, and business strategies. Microenterprises—accounting for nearly 90% of firms with employees—continue to post the weakest returns, consistent with their pronounced productivity gap, while mediumsized firms currently outperform both small and large enterprises. Sectoral disparities are likewise substantial and persistent over time, with information and communication, electricity, and distributive trade at the upper end of the profitability distribution, and real estate and primary activities at the lower end. Regional differences are largely shaped by productive specialization and business demographics, illustrating how structural features of local economies condition firms’ ability to generate profits. Given the central role of profitability in ensuring business viability, supporting investment, and sustaining employment and public revenues, the evidence underscores the need for public policies that foster productivity growth— through stable and efficient regulation, incentives for reinvestment, and investment in human capital, technology, and intangible assets.