Self-employment in Spain, the essentials:
- Number of self-employed workers in Spain: 3,505,556 self-employed workers on 30 September 2026, according to the Ministry of Labour; the Social Security gives an average of 3,483,645 for that month.
- Trend: 74,325 more than a year earlier, up 2.17%.
- Weight: 15.7% of the workers registered with the Social Security are self-employed.
- Type: 58.7% are individual self-employed workers; company directors and shareholders add another 32.3%.
- Profile: 37.1% are women and 74.4% work in the services sector.
The question of how many self-employed workers there are in Spain comes back every month with the registration data, and anyone thinking about working as a freelancer (autónomo) asks it too: how many there are and whether the number is growing. They are just over 3.5 million, and that figure comes from several official statistics that do not always match.
The data in this article come from three public sources: the monthly self-employment statistics of the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy, the Social Security registrations release and the Labour Force Survey (EPA) of the INE. Together they show the size of the group, how it has changed over the last year and who the self-employed in Spain are by sex, age, nationality, sector and region.
How many self-employed workers there are in Spain
According to the Ministry of Labour, “the number of self-employed workers in September 2026 is 3,505,556”. It is the most detailed figure and the basis for almost every breakdown in this article. To know how many autónomos there are in Spain in 2026, it is the most recent reference figure, although not the only one in circulation.
| Source | Figure | Reference | What it measures |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Labour (self-employment statistics) | 3,505,556 | Last day of September 2026 | Registered in the RETA or the sea workers’ scheme |
| Social Security (registrations release) | 3,483,645 | September 2026 average | Self-employed in the RETA, including the agricultural system |
| INE (Labour Force Survey, EPA) | 3,167,900 | Third quarter of 2026 | Self-employed workers, according to a survey |
The first two figures count registrations and differ by about 21,900 people because of how they are measured. The third is a household survey and comes out lower. To know the number of self-employed workers in Spain, registrations are the usual reference; the EPA is useful for comparing them with the rest of the employed population.
Change over the last year
Compared with September 2025, the Ministry counts 74,325 more self-employed workers, an increase of 2.17%. In the last month alone, since August 2026, 22,347 more joined. The Social Security describes a year-on-year rise of “almost 2.1%” in the self-employed scheme. The 2025 figures for Spain’s self-employed are part of a long trend: the Social Security counts 229,975 more self-employed workers than in September 2018.
The push comes mainly from foreign self-employed workers, who rose by 58,339 in a year, up 11.8%, against 15,986 more Spanish nationals: they account for almost four in five of the year’s net additions. Those who have just started are growing too. Self-employed workers with less than six months in the scheme rise the most of any seniority bracket in absolute terms, with 28,022 more. Those on the tarifa plana (the reduced starter contribution) number 471,740, up 8.7% on a year earlier, while those without it grow by 1.2%.
The Ministry’s monthly series shows the pace month by month. For anyone looking for how many autónomos there were in Spain in 2025 as a reference, September of that year closed at 3,431,231 and December at 3,431,797. In January 2026 the figure dropped to 3,420,468. From there, with a slight dip in July and August, it reached the 3,505,556 of September 2026, the highest value of the thirteen months shown in the Ministry’s release.
The largest year-on-year increases by region are in Andalusia (17,396 more), the Valencian Community (16,736), Catalonia (15,719) and the Community of Madrid (12,169). In its registrations release, the Social Security also reports on the extraordinary regularisation of foreign nationals: of the 421,306 regularised people registered on 30 September, 22,681 were self-employed.
Share of self-employed workers in Spain
The share of self-employed workers in Spain among all registered workers is 15.7%, 0.2 percentage points lower than a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Labour. The EPA, which measures employed people rather than registrations, puts self-employed workers at 13.9% of employment in the third quarter of 2026, against 14.6% in the same quarter of 2025.
The share varies a lot from one province to another. The highest percentages are in Zamora (24.7%), Lugo (23.6%) and Ávila (22.4%); among the lowest are Álava (11.4%) and Madrid (11.5%). Relative to population, Spain has 109.3 self-employed workers for every 1,000 people aged 16 to 64. To put the figure in context, the Social Security counted a total of 22,437,553 registered workers in the original series in September 2026, of whom 3,483,645 were self-employed.
Individuals and company-owner autónomos
Not all self-employed workers work alone under their own name and NIF. The Ministry’s statistic classifies them by group, and the largest is that of individual self-employed workers, with 2,056,952 people. The breakdown by group looks like this:
The two groups linked to companies add up to 1,133,984 people, 32.3% of the total: 621,502 board members and 512,482 shareholders. They are the so-called autónomos societarios: company shareholders and board members who, according to the Ministry’s statistic, are registered in the self-employed scheme.
Smaller groups complete the statistic: family collaborators (166,449), relatives of shareholders (72,408), people registered through a professional association (66,572) and members of religious orders (9,191). All of them count as self-employed workers because they are registered in the RETA or the sea workers’ scheme, even though they do not work as individual self-employed people.
Sex, age and nationality
There are 2,205,878 self-employed men (62.9%) and 1,299,677 self-employed women (37.1%). Women added 29,489 over the last year, up 2.3%, slightly above the 2.17% of the whole group, so their share is rising slightly.
The largest age bracket is 46 to 55, with 1,093,134 self-employed workers (31.2%). Next comes 56 to 65, with 837,804 (23.9%). Those under 36 add up to 586,644, 16.7% of the total, and those over 65 are 4.9%. Together the two brackets hold 55.1% of the self-employed, more than half of the group.
Seniority points the same way. The largest group has been self-employed for 10 to 20 years, with 813,367 people (23.2%), followed by those with 5 to 10 years (666,242, or 19.0%). At the same time, part of the new registrations come with the tarifa plana, which 471,740 self-employed workers already have.
Foreign self-employed workers in Spain number 550,763, 15.7% of the total. Half, 50.5%, come from Europe: 37.1% from the European Union and 13.4% from other European countries. Of the rest, 21.4% come from the Americas, 18.9% from Asia and 9.0% from Africa. Self-employed workers of Spanish nationality number 2,954,793, 84.3%, and grow by 0.5% over the year.
Where the growth comes from: of the 74,325 self-employed workers added between September 2025 and September 2026, 58,339 are foreign nationals, around 78%. Spanish self-employed workers, by contrast, grew by 0.5%.
Sectors and size of the business
Services account for the majority: when the self-employed are split by sector, 74.4% belong to services, 12.0% to construction, 7.5% to agriculture and 6.0% to industry. According to the Ministry, trade, professional activities and hospitality are the branches with the most self-employed workers within services.
Most work without staff: 3,010,013 self-employed workers (85.9%) have no employees and 495,543 (14.1%) do. Among the latter, 52.3% have a single employee, 36.8% between two and four and 10.9% five or more. In addition, 275,567 (7.9%) are in pluriactividad, that is, also registered in another Social Security scheme. As for contributions, 54.1% (1,895,718 people) contribute on a base of between 1 and 1.5 times the minimum, and 26.4% (926,441) on the minimum base.
Self-employed workers by region
Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid account for almost half of the group, 47%. The table shows how many autónomos there are in Madrid, in Catalonia and in the other regions with more than 180,000, according to the Ministry on 30 September 2026:
| Autonomous community | Self-employed |
|---|---|
| Andalusia | 609,445 |
| Catalonia | 589,901 |
| Community of Madrid | 449,574 |
| Valencian Community | 403,266 |
| Galicia | 211,985 |
| Castile and León | 182,709 |
Measured against population, the order is different. The regions with the most self-employed workers per 1,000 inhabitants aged 16 to 64 are the Balearic Islands (129.0), Galicia (127.0) and Castile and León (124.9). At the lower end are the Community of Madrid (94.7), the Canary Islands (95.2) and the Region of Murcia (101.6). At the other end of the absolute table are Ceuta (3,046 self-employed workers), Melilla (4,346) and La Rioja (24,358). The first four regions bring together 58.5% of all self-employed workers in the country.
Why the figures do not match
Self-employment statistics use different definitions. The Ministry’s statistic counts those registered in the RETA or the sea workers’ scheme “on the last day of the reference month”. The Social Security release, by contrast, gives a monthly average that includes the special agricultural system. That difference in method explains the roughly 21,900 self-employed workers that separate one figure from the other.
The INE’s EPA works differently: a household survey that classifies people by their employment situation and their place of residence, not a record of registrations. As a result, its 3,167,900 self-employed workers are not added to or mixed with registrations. The Ministry publishes its statistic every month with data for the previous month, so a new figure comes out every month.
The EPA itself also breaks down self-employment. In the third quarter of 2026 it records 2,107,600 entrepreneurs without employees or independent workers and 950,600 employers. Compared with the same quarter of 2025, the survey’s self-employed workers are about 104,700 fewer. It is a different trend from registrations, and another reason not to compare the two series as if they measured the same thing.
Vivid for freelancers and company-owner autónomos
Behind each of those figures is someone who invoices, gets paid and pays business expenses. For anyone joining the more than 3.5 million self-employed workers, the Vivid account for freelancers is applied for online, and identity verification is completed digitally, with a selfie and your identity document. Opening usually takes between 10 minutes and 1 hour, and opening the account costs nothing.
If you work through a company, like 32% of self-employed workers, the business account accepts companies such as the S.L., the SLU or the S.A. What Vivid Business brings in both cases:
Vivid, from day one: a business account with a Spanish IBAN and invoicing included, with sub-accounts that each have their own IBAN to set aside, for example, the reserve for taxes.
One of 3.5 million self-employed workers
Your Vivid freelancer account is applied for online and comes with a Spanish IBAN, invoicing included and the Standard plan at €0 per month.
Frequently asked questions
How many self-employed workers are there in Spain in 2026?
According to the Ministry of Labour, 3,505,556 on 30 September 2026. The Social Security, which gives a monthly average, puts the number of self-employed workers that month at 3,483,645.
What share of registered workers are self-employed?
15.7% of workers registered with the Social Security in September 2026. In the EPA, self-employed workers are 13.9% of the employed.
How many self-employed women are there?
1,299,677 in September 2026, 37.1% of the total, up 2.3% on the previous year.
How many foreign self-employed workers are there in Spain?
550,763, 15.7% of the total. They grow far faster than Spanish nationals: 58,339 more in a year, up 11.8%, against 0.5%.
How many self-employed workers have employees?
495,543, or 14.1%. More than half of them have a single employee.
Which region has the most self-employed workers?
Andalusia, with 609,445, followed by Catalonia (589,901) and the Community of Madrid (449,574). Relative to population, the Balearic Islands have the most.
How many autónomos societarios are there?
1,133,984 in September 2026, adding up company board members (621,502) and shareholders (512,482). They are 32.3% of all self-employed workers.
How many self-employed workers are there according to the EPA?
3,167,900 self-employed workers in the third quarter of 2026, 13.9% of employment. The EPA is a household survey and should not be mixed with Social Security registrations.
How often is the self-employment figure updated?
Every month. The Ministry of Labour publishes its statistic with data for the previous month, and the Social Security releases its registrations note at the start of each month.
What is the most common age of self-employed workers?
Between 46 and 55: there are 1,093,134 self-employed workers in that bracket, 31.2% of the total. Next comes the 56 to 65 bracket, with 23.9%.
How many self-employed workers are in pluriactividad?
275,567 in September 2026, 7.9% of the total. They combine self-employment with another activity under another scheme.
How many self-employed workers are on the tarifa plana?
471,740 in September 2026, 13.5% of the total, up 8.7% on a year earlier.
This article provides general information and does not constitute advice; it is based on public statistics from the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy, the Social Security and the INE, which are updated every month or every quarter. Vivid Money S.A. is an e-money institution authorised by the CSSF (Luxembourg); its branch in Spain is registered with the Banco de España under number 6731.
