Even in the midst of a war in Europe, the energy crisis, and despite the economic impact of the pandemic, foreign investment in Spain is growing. Below, we tell you which are the main countries investing in this nation and the most important sectors of interest.
Content:
- Foreign investment in Spain in 2022 and the first part of 2023
- Why is Spain an attractive country for investment?
- Spain’s most important sectors
- The autonomous communities with the most foreign investment
- Would you like to expand your operation to Spain?
Foreign investment in Spain in 2022 and the first part of 2023
In the first quarter of 2023 alone, foreign investment increased by 8.1% in gross terms, compared to the same period in 2022. Foreign investment in 2022 exceeded 34.178 billion euros and, according to data from the National Registry of Foreign Investment, this figure is the second highest since 1993. It is expected that this record will be exceeded this year.
If we take a look at 2022, foreign investment totaled 23.892 billion euros (excluding liquidations). That is, 9.8 % more than in 2021. The main investor in Spain was the USA, with 27.7 % of all net income. The second largest investor in 2022 was the United Kingdom, with 17.8 %, and the third was Germany, with 14 %. Investment from France and Australia accounted for 10% and 4%, respectively.
In addition, in this same year (2022), Spain received the highest number of greenfield projects, that is, foreign direct investments (FDI) that start from scratch, with new facilities and creating new jobs. The country received 860 greenfield projects, thus ranking sixth worldwide in the number of greenfield projects received, surpassing China, France, and Japan.
Why is Spain an attractive country for investment?
Spain is made up of 47.4 million consumers, excluding the millions of international tourists that visit the country every year. In 2022 alone, Spain received 105 million foreign tourists, representing a phenomenal increase over the 52 million tourists registered in 2021.
Its location, climate, food, language, and economy have attracted the interest of many companies towards the Spanish market. Besides, it is an important bridge to the countries in the Americas.
One of the local measures that support foreign investment is the investment and restructuring agenda that the Spanish government has developed through its Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan (Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia).
Spain’s most important sectors
Some of the main sectors of interest are new technologies, ICT, the environment, mobility, tourism, aeronautics, biotechnology, and real estate. In the latter, Spain is the second country in the world regarding innovation with technology in the real estate sector. In fact, Spain has the second highest annual investment in proptech in the world: between 2020 and 2021, 824 million euros were invested, placing it above Great Britain (769 million euros), India (742 million euros), and Brazil (444 million euros).
Looking back to 2022, 50% of the investment went to the services sector, 42.2% to the industrial sector, 2.5% to construction, and 0.2% to the primary sector. The telecommunications sector received more than 2.7 million euros, a record figure in the last 10 years.
Meanwhile, renewable energies received 2.8 million, wind energy investment received 872 million, and solar energy 1.9 million. Another sector that has been a surprise is research and development; foreign investors dedicated 800 million euros to this sector, more than double the amount of any other year.
The autonomous communities with the most foreign investment
Spain’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism has outlined how foreign investment was distributed among the autonomous communities in 2022.
With 17.226 million euros, the Community of Madrid received 50.4 % of the total investment. It was followed by the Basque Country with 5.512 million (16.1 %), Catalonia with 3.883 million (11.4 %), the Community of Valencia with 2.036 million (6 %), and Andalusia with 1.265 million (3.7%).
Would you like to expand your operation to Spain?
If you are in the process of expanding your business in Spain or any other Spanish-speaking country, Nativa-PR will be a key tool to increase organic traffic to your website and to generate valuable media publications in Spain and Latin America. Undoubtedly, these markets offer a great growth opportunity. We cannot overlook that nearly 493 million people speak Spanish, and it is the third most widely used language in the world.
