Audiovisual

The audiovisual sector is a significant part of Catalonia’s economy represented by currently over 3,690 companies, showing a total turnover of €7,077 million euros and a workforce of around 32,500 people.

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Audiovisual, a highly innovative sector.

The audiovisual sector can be divided into two three areas: audiovisual entertainment; corporate communication, advertising and events; and media companies. The audiovisual entertainment leads in terms of aggregate turnover, while the communication, advertising and events area leads as regards the number of companies.

Turnover from the Catalan audiovisual sector amounts to €7,077 million, showing a 5.6% increase compared to the previous year. There are 3,695 companies in the sector, most of them being small or medium-sized entreprises with a turnover of less than €50 million.

The audiovisual in Catalonia accounts for 2.9% of the total GDP and employs 32,578 professionals.

Foreign investment to Barcelona-Catalonia

In the 2018-2022 period, Catalonia attracted 566.2M€ in foreign audiovisual sector investment, almost 20% more than the previous five-year period. In total, during this period, 84 projects were recorded (+52.7%) which have resulted in the creation of almost 5,000 new jobs (an increase of 100%).

The main countries of origin of these investments are the United States, the United Kingdom and France.

The number of projects in 2022 (up to November) comes to 21, a year-on-year increase of 23.5% compared to the same period in 2021.

3,695 companies
32,578 professionals
€7,077 million euros in turnover

““Barcelona is a technology-based city with a lot of startups and major technology companies””

Mike Blackman, managing director Integrated Systems Europe (ISE)

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FDI in creative industries

Catalonia is the 5th region in the EU in terms of the number of projects by creative industries. It also accounts for 8.4% of jobs created in the EU and 5.4% of capital invested. In the 2018-2022 period, Catalonia was the top destination for FDI in creative industries in Spain.

Professional talent and trade shows

Catalonia is a center of excellence in design with a strong base of professional talent. The talent also extends to other fields where Catalonia excels, such as creative and technical experts throughout the entire industry, in some part due to the presence of major full-service media groups such as MediaPro.

Catalonia provides an extensive offering of audiovisual studies and a wide range of audiovisuals Master's degrees. This talent also generates a dynamic ecosystem of events and fairs that promote and give visibility to the industry, as well as attracting even more fairs to Catalonia’s capital, such as the Integrated Systems Europe event (ISE), the world’s most relevant audiovisual trade fair, previously held in Amsterdam and now held in Barcelona since 2021.

Audiovisual entertainment in the world

Globally, the audiovisual entertainment industry had a total revenue of some $2.5 trillion in 2022, 8% more than in 2021. Driving this significant growth is view-on-demand series and film fiction sector, video games, sports, and other entertainment events are the most recent and future growth categories.

Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Disney are the leading global players in OTT, and total revenues are expected to increase by 7.6% by 2026. Global revenues generated by cinema and internet advertising are also expected to grow in the coming years.