This chapter presents a snapshot of Spain’s entrepreneurial activity and dynamism, describing entrepreneurship levels vis-à-vis other European OECD countries using statistical information.
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Diagnostics of Spain
Abstract
This chapter benchmarks Spain’s entrepreneurial activity and dynamism to those of European OECD countries. The benchmarking uses statistical indicators that serve as a preliminary reference for evaluating the state of entrepreneurial activity in Spain, prior to analysing the underlying characteristics of the entrepreneurial ecosystem that may account for the observed results.
Startup activity is measured in terms of new firm generation (birth rate of employer firms; total startups created per capita; and unicorns per capita) as well as in terms of broader business dynamism, measured by indicators of startup survival and business churn rates (business entries plus exits). These dimensions have been selected as particularly informative metrics of the ecosystem’s capacity to generate new ventures and renew itself.
In addition to the average or total national startup performance, ecosystems should also be evaluated in terms of the distribution of entrepreneurial activity across regions. Hence, Spain is benchmarked against other European OECD countries on an indicator that measures the regional distribution of entrepreneurship (concentration of startup activity across cities).
Spain’s entrepreneurship rate is in line with other European OECD economies
Spain’s new employer firm birth rate (births of firms with at least one employee as a share of all employer firms) is at the same level as the European OECD average (Figure 2.1). Over the period 2020-2023 about 8.5% of all employer firms were new firms entering the market. For context, the average European OECD birth rate is about 8.6% and the highest birth rate level registered in the same period was about 13%. Over the past six years, the birth rate of new firms tended to decline in almost all European countries, including Spain, which registered a decline in line with the average of other European OECD countries.
The survival rate of startups (3 years after incorporation) is slightly below the average European OECD score (Figure 2.2). About half of newly created firms are still active after three years in Spain, similar to Italy and France.
Spain has a relatively high business churn rate. While this can indicate a volatile environment for entrepreneurship at high levels (OECD, 2025[1]), it is generally considered here as a positive sign of Schumpeterian “creative destruction”, In Spain, it stands at 18% of the business population, slightly above the European OECD average and not too distant from the leading countries on this measure, Sweden and France (Figure 2.3). This indicates a lively business dynamism in the country, with many companies both entering and exiting the market, and a sign of a healthy business dynamism. Successful entrepreneurship necessarily involves trial and error, and positive churn rates signal an evolving environment.
Note: Birth of new employer firms (with at least one employee), as a proportion of all active business population.
Source: Based on OECD - SDBS business demography
Note: 3-year survival rate of employer enterprises, as a proportion of new employer enterprises.
Source: Based on OECD - SDBS business demography
Note: Sum of births and deaths of employer enterprises (firms with at least 1 employee) as a proportion of active business population.
Source: Based on OECD - SDBS business demography
The equity-backed startup creation rate is catching up
When it comes to the type of entrepreneurship driven by young, equity-backed firms, Spain is still catching up. The number of Spanish equity-backed startups per capita (which includes all types of venture capital-backed ventures, from deeptech to other types of innovative firms) is at the level of France and slightly above Germany, yet, below the European OECD average (Figure 2.4). Over the period 2020-2023 there were about 0.18 young firms (0–5-years old) per thousand people in both Spain and France, as captured by the Crunchbase data. In the same period, in Germany, there were about 0.16 young firms per thousand people. Among the top European OECD performers, these rates were between 0.5 and 1 young firms per thousand people. While these results are partially driven by the relatively smaller population size of top-performing countries, they still point to the opportunity for Spain to grow its equity-backed startup rate. Over the past six years, the total number of equity-backed startups tended to decrease in most OECD countries, denoting a lower level of these startups entering the market after the pandemic. It is important to counter this trend to restore dynamism and competitiveness.
Note: Number of companies aged 0-5 years old registered in Crunchbase, divided by the population. A three-year moving average is applied to the original statistics
Source: Based on Crunchbase
Spain is producing unicorns
Globally, startups that become unicorns are rare. Only a small fraction of startups worldwide reaches a valuation over USD 1 billion. In Spain, these firms are somewhat fewer than in European OECD benchmark countries but growing. Over the period 2020-2023 there were less than 0.05 unicorns per million population in Spain, compared with about 0.1 unicorns per million in Germany and France. Spain recorded 3 new unicorns in 2022, but there are years where no firm reaches the unicorn status (CB Insights, 2025[2]).
There is a relatively even regional balance of equity-backed startups within Spain
Spain features a more even regional spread of equity-backed startup activity that other European OECD countries, a positive indicator of regional balance. Notably the reverse concentration index of equity-backed startups in Spain (where 0 indicates full concentration of all startups in one city and 100 reflects an even distribution of startups across all cities) is about 86%, slightly less concentrated than France, and almost 20% less concentrated than the European OECD average of around 68% (Figure 2.5). Although startups are more dispersed in Spain than in these other countries, there are nevertheless quite strong concentrations of startups in the major cities.
Note: Reverse Herfindahl–Hirschman index of startup presence across cities in each country.
Source: Based on Crunchbase
References
[2] CB Insights (2025), The Complete List Of Unicorn Companies Tracker, https://www.cbinsights.com/research-unicorn-companies.
[1] OECD (2025), Boosting Business in Regions: Easing Administrative Burdens and Financing Constraints, OECD Regional Development Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/396cc7c2-en.