The number of companies with employees in the construction sector registered with Social Security in Spain shot up 13.8% in April, with 16,208 more companies than a year ago, which is the best figure in the last eight years despite the evolution of the pandemic. In the case of Canary Islands, it is among the autonomous communities with the highest increase, registering a growth of 15.3%.
In its comparison with the previous month, March, the number of companies also registered an improvement by increasing 2.1%, around 2,700 more construction companies in just one month, to represent 10.4% of all productive sectors, according to the Industrial Observatory of Construction, a sectorial analysis tool of the Labor Foundation of Construction.
"This good data reconfirms the tractor and job-creating effect of the construction sector. The economic recovery of Spain involves clearly betting on construction as one of its main engines," say representatives of the employers' association and unions in the sector from the Foundation.
Large companies fall
By company size, the increase in all strata stands out, except for that of 250 to 499 workers, which decreases by 6.1% in year-on-year rate. The largest increases occur in companies with 50 to 249 workers with an increase of 17.8%, followed by those with 6 to 9 workers, which grow by 17.7%.
By autonomous communities, all present year-on-year growth rates in April, highlighting Extremadura (29.1%), Andalusia (25.6%), Castilla-La Mancha (22%) and the Canary Islands (15.3%). In absolute terms, the Communities with the largest volume of construction companies are Catalonia, with 23,708 companies; Andalusia, with 21,864; the Community of Madrid, with 18,896; and the Valencian Community with 15,454.
In the economy as a whole, the number of companies increased by 4.2% in year-on-year terms, with construction leading the list, followed by the Services sector (3.7%) and Industry (2.4%), while the Agricultural sector decreased by 0.4% year-on-year.