Foreign investment attracted by Catalan Government increases by 13% in 2019

• Catalonia Trade & Investment -an agency of the Catalan Ministry for Business and Knowledge- has attracted 365.2 million euros of foreign investment in 2019 (13% more than the previous year) that have enabled the creation of over 5,700 jobs (+5.5%) and the maintenance of 1,350 additional positions (+6.3%).
• 8 out of 10 euros of foreign investment where allocated to industry, while almost half of the projects are by companies that weren’t previously present in Catalonia.
• The Minister for Business and Knowledge, Àngels Chacón, announced this in the Catalan Parliament this Wednesday.

Catalonia Trade & Investment -the agency for business competitiveness that is part of the Ministry for Business and Knowledge- has attracted 365.2 million euros of foreign investment in 2019, 13% more than the previous year. These foreign investment projects have enabled the creation of 5,757 jobs (a growth of 5.5% year-over-year) and the maintenance of an additional 1,349 positions (+6.3%). This was announced by the Minister for Business and Knowledge, Àngels Chacón, this Wednesday in the Catalan Parliament.

Thus, through the projects managed by Catalonia Trade & Investment, “1 million euros have been raised every day and 15 jobs have been created in 2019 as a result of foreign investment projects”. "We know that part of the social and economic well-being of Catalonia comes from foreign investment and therefore, we are aware of the assets that Catalonia has and we will continue to work to promote it", she stressed. Chacón also highlighted that "47% of investment projects by companies that weren’t previously present in Catalonia" and that "22% have been attracted through Catalonia Trade & Investment’s offices in the world".

In 2019, 84 investment projects were materialized, the same number as the previous year and the highest on record for the second year in a row. The 5,757 jobs directly created represent 8.2% of the total employment created in Catalonia during 2019.

If foreign investments are  analyzed over longer periods of time to avoid the volatile effect, the volume of foreign investment attracted by Catalonia Trade & Investment in the last five years (2015-2019) has reached 1.6 billion euros, 34% more than the previous five years (2010-2014). In the period 2015-2019, 364 foreign investment projects were materialized (62% more than in the previous five years) and 19,196 jobs were registered (83% more).

Foreign investment in industry

80% of the total foreign investment volume attracted by Catalonia Trade & Investment in 2019 has been allocated to industry, especially the pharmaceutical, automotive and chemical and plastics industries. As of the number of projects in the entire value chain, industry also leads with 20.2% of the total number, with the same weight as investment allocated to services and before ICT projects (19%), R&D (14.3%) and logistics (7.1%). By sector and number of projects, foreign investments by companies in the ICT-digital transformation sectors (32.1%); the pharmaceutical industry (9.5%); logistics, e-commerce and distribution (8.3%); and food and gourmet products (7.1%) are the most important ones.

Investments by companies not previously present in Catalonia

Almost half (47.6%) of the foreign investment projects materialized last year come from companies that did not have a previous establishment in Catalonia (that is, greenfield projects), which shows Catalonia’s potential to continue attracting new investors. New investments in new products by companies that were already present in Catalonia (22.6% of the total) and expansions (20.2%) are the other two main types of investment. Regarding the investment’s country of origin, companies having the most projects materialized in Catalonia are from the United States (17.9% of the total projects), Germany (16.7%) and France (13.1%).

Catalonia Trade & Investment’s Offices in the world, the best way in

These foreign investment projects were mainly attracted through Catalonia Trade & Investment’s 40 Offices in the world (22.6% of total projects), followed by aftercare meetings (13%). These are follow-up visits by Catalonia Trade & Investment’s team to foreign companies already established in Catalonia.

Catalonia’s strategy for foreign investment attraction is led through Catalonia Trade & Investment. The agency works from Barcelona and its network of 40 Offices in the world to attract new foreign investment projects in Catalonia while also advising foreign companies in a comprehensive way to facilitate their investment process. In this sense, for every euro of public money allocated to the attraction of foreign investment, the Government has attracted 144 euros of foreign investment by multinational companies.