“63% of new self-employed workers in the Canary Islands are no longer heading towards traditional sectors such as hospitality and retail, but rather towards ICT, professional services, construction, and emerging sectors, which shows that we are progressing without needing to attack tourism,” he stated.
Professional, scientific, and technical activities, education, and construction lead the advance, accounting for 63% of the total growth.
47% of new self-employed individuals in the Canary Islands are women. The expansion of female entrepreneurship confirms the gradual feminization of self-employment and its fundamental role in the economic diversification of the islands. “Women have gone from being a minority in entrepreneurship to becoming a visible engine of innovation, stability, and social change”.
The group **aged 46 to 55 continues to be the largest** (31% of the total). It is followed by the 36 to 45 age group. Together, both groups account for 56% of the total, "which confirms that the highest participation in self-employment occurs in people in their prime productive years, where professional experience, economic stability, and consolidated business networks favor permanence".
In contrast, the younger groups maintain limited participation, although with incipient signs of recovery. Overall, those under 35 represent just 16% of the total group, confirming the persistent difficulty in attracting new generations to self-employment. The main causes justifying these figures could be associated with a lack of experience, a shortage of initial financial resources, a preference for salaried jobs with greater stability, and the perception of entrepreneurship as a high-risk option
The analysis by seniority reveals a relatively balanced structure: self-employed individuals with less than five years of activity total 66,142 affiliates (45% of the total), while those with more than five years of experience reach 79,704 (55%). The Canary Islands have a resilient and evolving self-employed sector, where accumulated experience and the permanence of traditional businesses coexist with the energy of new initiatives.
The group of self-employed individuals without employees continues to represent the vast majority of the collective, with 121,519 members, equivalent to 83% of the total. This segment reflects the predominant model of self-employment in the Canary Islands: businesses sustained by a single person, with high direct involvement in management and service provision.
