Costa del Sol Towns

Marbella Buisness

According to 2003 data, Marbella is one of the largest municipalities with households with the highest disposable income per capita of Andalusia, only with Mojacar ahead and matched by four other municipalities, one being its neighbor, Benahavis.

Marbella’s business network is comprised of 17,647 establishments as of 2005, representing 14.7% of the province of Malaga, also showing a greater dynamism than the provincial capital in terms of growth over the period 1998–2004, when it grew by 9% compared to 2%, 4% of Malaga.

Compared to the rest of Andalusia, the size of the productive fabric of Marbella is superior to other municipalities with a similar population, such as Algeciras and San Fernando, reaching even beyond the capital cities of Almeria, Huelva, and Jaen.

Like most of the Mediterranean coast of Andalusia, Marbella's economy is based on tertiary activities. The service sector accounts for 60% of employment, while trade occupies almost 20%.

The main branches of the service sector are hospitality, real estate, and business services, which notes the importance of tourism in Marbella’s economy. For its part the construction sector, industrial, and agriculture accounted for 14.2%, 3.8%, and 2.4% of employment respectively.

The business services sector accounts for 87.5% of the total, while those engaged in construction make up 9.6% and industrial, 2.9%. As to the size of these companies, 89.5% have less than five employees, and only 2.3% have a workforce of over 20 employees.