The Diplomat
Foreign investment in Spain (discounting Foreign Securities Holding Entities) grew by 16.5% in the last quarter of 2020, but closed the year with a fall of 0.76% compared to 2019, to reach 23,823 million euros gross, according to data updated on Monday by the Secretary of State for Trade.
According to these data, collected by Europa Press, the Community of Madrid led the attraction of foreign investment, with 17,910 million euros, representing 75.2% of the national total (three out of every four euros invested) and an increase of 23.6% over the figure for 2019.
It is followed by Catalonia, which accounted for 12.5% of total investments with 2,966 million euros, a fall of 22.71% compared to 2019, when this amount amounted to 3,838 million euros.
Foreign investments also stand out in the Basque Country, which accounted for 3.6% (857 million), in Andalusia, with 3.2% (769 million), and in the Valencian Community, which closed 2020 with 1.4% of foreign investments (324 million).
With regard to the data for the fourth quarter of the year, it is worth noting that foreign investment in Spain grew by 16.5% compared to the same period last year, reaching a total of 8,676 million euros.
The countries that invested most in Spain in 2020 were: Luxembourg (6,917 million), Switzerland (3,892 million), the United Kingdom (3,012 million), France (2,380 million), the Netherlands (1,507 million) and Germany (1,293 million).
The main sectors in which foreign investment fell throughout 2020 were activities auxiliary to financial services (12.77%), telecommunications (9.4%), financial services (7.5%) and building construction (5.9%).
