Statistics and Rankings

El Palmar de Troya ranks among Spain’s poorest towns

El Palmar de Troya ranks among Spain’s poorest towns RUSSPAIN.com © russpain.com
El Palmar de Troya ranks among Spain’s poorest towns © russpain.com
El Palmar de Troya recorded the lowest gross average income per tax return in Seville province in 2024: €16,078. It ranked tenth-lowest in Spain, while Tomares led the province at €41,622.

The median across Seville province’s 100 municipalities with their own tax data was €21,791 in 2024, well below the weighted provincial average of €29,113. El Palmar de Troya had the lowest gross average income per tax return: €16,078. It ranked tenth-lowest in Spain and sixth-lowest in Andalusia.

A separate measure published by Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) in its 2024 Atlas of Household Income Distribution puts El Palmar de Troya second-lowest among municipalities with more than 2,000 residents, at €9,321 in average net annual income per person. Only Iznalloz, in Granada province, was lower, at €9,153; Albuñol, also in Granada, ranked third-lowest at €9,343. The INE measure is not directly comparable with the Agencia Tributaria’s €16,078 gross average per tax return: it calculates net income per resident, including children and people without their own income, while tax statistics use tax returns as the unit.

The gap with Tomares, the province’s highest-ranked municipality at €41,622, was €25,544. The richest figure was 2.6 times the poorest. The gap was narrower than in Andalusia, at 5.4 times, and Spain overall, at 6.4.

The Agencia Tributaria’s municipal figures show a wide spread across the province. After El Palmar de Troya, the lowest averages were in Badolatosa (€16,622), Pruna (€17,076), Marinaleda (€17,220) and Martín de la Jara (€17,670). At the top, Espartinas followed Tomares at €39,627. Bormujos, Valencina de la Concepción and Mairena del Aljarafe also made the provincial top five.

The ten lowest-income municipalities recorded 18,374 tax returns and averaged €17,565. The ten highest had 460,175 returns and averaged €34,582, almost twice as much. Twenty-eight municipalities fell below €20,000; twelve exceeded €30,000.

El Palmar de Troya is the only Seville municipality among Spain’s ten lowest-income towns by gross average income per tax return. The other nine are in Granada, Badajoz, Málaga and Cádiz. Badolatosa ranks 23rd-lowest nationally on that measure. In total, four Seville municipalities are among Spain’s 50 lowest-income towns, and thirteen feature in the bottom 100.

Andalusia accounts for 72 of Spain’s 100 lowest-income municipalities by gross average income per tax return; Seville province accounts for thirteen. The province’s weighted average of €29,113 sits above the Andalusian figure of €27,599 but below Spain’s €33,464. Fifty-seven Seville municipalities exceed the Andalusian median of €21,263, while 21 are above the national median of €26,207. The figures offer a municipal-level counterpart to this national income map, which uses tax data to show differences across Spain.

The INE’s measure provides another national comparison: average net annual income per person in Spain reached €15,948 in 2024, up 6.1% from 2023. El Palmar de Troya’s €9,321 was about 41.6% below that national average. INE data also placed Pozuelo de Alarcón, in Madrid, at the top among municipalities with more than 2,000 residents, with €32,612 per person, about 3.5 times El Palmar de Troya’s figure. Europa Press reported that 11 of the 15 municipalities with the lowest average income per person were in Andalusia; Badolatosa ranked seventh on the INE measure, at €9,832.

Tomares ranks second in Andalusia behind Benahavís, whose average is €79,041, and 97th in Spain. Five of the region’s ten highest-income municipalities are in Seville province: Tomares, Espartinas, Bormujos, Valencina de la Concepción and Mairena del Aljarafe. Seville city averaged €34,032 across 377,664 returns, ranking 17th in Andalusia and 390th among Spanish cities. Dos Hermanas recorded 72,050 returns and an average of €30,659, placing 11th in the province.

Income growth also varied. Seville province’s average rose 5.0% in 2024 in current euros, compared with 5.5% in Andalusia and 6.1% across Spain. Only three Seville municipalities saw declines: Pruna fell 1.4%, Gelves 0.6% and Gerena 0.3%.

Richard Reid RUSSPAIN.com
Editor

Richard Reid

Richard Reid is the News Editor at RUSSPAIN.COM. He oversees editorial standards, source review and corrections and writes across general news, including politics, economics and social affairs.