The Audiovisual sector in Catalonia

The audiovisual sector is a strategic pillar of Catalonia’s economy, representing 4,457 companies, and generating €9.12 billion in turnover, and employs 44,986 professionals, accounting for 3% of Catalonia’s GDP.

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Audiovisual, a highly innovative sector in Catalonia.

The audiovisual industry encompasses the creation, production, distribution, and exhibition of content that combines images and sound to inform, educate, entertain, or express artistic narratives. In Catalonia, the sector is characterized by a high level of maturity: 74% of companies have been operating for more than 10 years, and account for 83% of total employment. Furthermore, the ecosystem includes a growing startup base, which has more than doubled in the past five years to reach 380 emerging companies.

Search our database to find Catalan companies working in the Audiovisual sector.

The sector is highly concentrated around Barcelona, with 87% of the audiovisual companies, 56% located in the city of Barcelona, reinforcing its role as the region’s main audiovisual hub.

Value chain and economic structure

Within the audiovisual value chain in Catalonia, development and production activities account for 50% of total turnover, followed by brand communication and promotion (36%), and distribution and exhibition channels, both offline and online (14%).

4,457 companies
44,986 professionals
€9.12B in turnover

“There's a lot of benefits from being in Catalonia: attractiveness of the industry, talent, facilities and support from the government”

Mike Blackman, Managing Director of Integrated Systems Europe (ISE)

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A first-class ecosystem and public support

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.

The sector benefits from a strong supporting ecosystem that includes major infrastructure projects such as Catalunya Media City at the Tres Xemeneies site in Sant Adrià de Besòs and the Parc Audiovisual de Catalunya in Terrassa. Public support plays a key role, particularly through the Catalan Institute for Cultural Companies (ICEC), alongside the work of the Audiovisual Cluster of Catalonia and a network of 65 education centers linked to audiovisual disciplines.

Furthermore, Catalonia provides an extensive offering of audiovisual studies and a wide range of audiovisual 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.

Global context and technological momentum

Globally, the audiovisual industry generated more than US$3 trillion in revenue in 2024, nearly 6% more than in 2023, and is expected to exceed US$3.5 trillion by 2029. While the United States remains the largest market, Asian countries such as Indonesia, China, India, and Saudi Arabia show the strongest combination of current size and growth potential.

The sector is entering a new phase of sustained growth, driven by digital maturity and the integration of generative artificial intelligence. This transition is also accompanied by a shift in the economic model, moving away from exclusive reliance on subscriptions and positioning advertising as a key growth accelerator.