Time required to start a business in Spain

Spain: Time required to start a business was 12.5 days in 2019. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2019)
12.5 days
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
89th
of 188 countries
All-time high
138 days
in 2003
All-time low
12.5 days
in 2018
Years of data
17
2003–2019

Time required to start a business in Spain, 2003–2019

0501001502003201120192003: 138 days2004: 137 days2005: 70 days2006: 60 days2007: 60 days2008: 61 days2009: 61 days2010: 52 days2011: 29 days2012: 30 days2013: 24 days2014: 14 days2015: 14 days2016: 13 days2017: 13 days2018: 12.5 days2019: 12.5 days

Source: Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in days.

Analysis

Spain recorded 12.5 days for time required to start a business in 2019. That is the lowest value across all 17 years on record.

The figure is down 79.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, time required to start a business in Spain peaked at 138 days in 2003 and was at its lowest, 12.5 days, in 2018.

Spain ranks 89th of 188 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 83.86 days 60 days 138 days 7
2010s 21.4 days 12.5 days 52 days 10

Countries ranked near Spain

  1. 88 Indonesia 12.6 days compare
  2. 89 Egypt 12.5 days compare
  3. 89 Jordan 12.5 days compare
  4. 92 Bhutan 12 days compare
  5. 92 Dominica 12 days compare
  6. 92 Grenada 12 days compare
  7. 92 Maldives 12 days compare
  8. 92 Mongolia 12 days compare
  9. 92 Montenegro 12 days compare

See the full ranking of 188 places →

More reference data data for Spain

All data for Spain →

Frequently asked questions

What is time required to start a business in Spain?
Time required to start a business in Spain was 12.5 days in 2019, according to Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest time required to start a business recorded in Spain?
The highest recorded value was 138 days in 2003.
What is the lowest time required to start a business recorded in Spain?
The lowest recorded value was 12.5 days in 2018.
How does Spain rank for time required to start a business?
Spain ranks 89th out of 188 countries with data for 2019.
Is time required to start a business rising or falling in Spain?
Over the last ten years it is down 79.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Spain data come from?
The figures come from Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Time required to start a business. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Time required to start a business
Unit
days
Source
Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
188 places, 2,945 data points, 2003–2019
Last refreshed

Number of calendar days needed to complete the procedures to legally operate a business.