The Diplomat
Foreign investment in Spain increased by up to 20.3% in the first quarter of the year, according to data published yesterday in the Foreign Investment Register DataInvex of the State Secretary for Trade.
According to these data, gross foreign investment flows into Spain in the first three months of 2023 increased by 8.1% in gross terms compared to the same period in 2022. In the case of investment not originating from companies resident in Spain (ETVE), the increase is 20.3% with respect to the first quarter of 2022, reaching 9,912 million euros. This represents a growth of 50.8% compared to the average over the previous five years.
“The Government’s economic policy is being key to generating confidence abroad, as shown by the data known today (yesterday),” declared the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Héctor Gómez. This “legal security” and this “economic growth”, he continued, “reflect the good moment that Spain is experiencing and the desire to invest in our country, with industry as the main sector receiving investments”.
At the sector level, industry is gaining weight and is positioned as the main receiving sector, practically balancing with the service sector. Thus, 48.8% of total foreign investment went to industry, 48.5% to the services sector and 2.6% to construction.
The USA was the leading investor in Spain in this period: it issued 58.1% of the non-ETVE investment flows to Spain. This country, together with Australia and France, accounted for 72.6% of investment. They are followed by Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Japan as investor countries in our country.
By autonomous communities, four communities obtained almost 96.3% of the total foreign investment received in Spain in the first quarter of 2023: Community of Madrid, Community of Valencia, Catalonia and Region of Murcia.
According to a recent study by the prestigious business school TBS Education, made public this past Monday, foreign investment in Spain reached 34,178 million euros in gross terms in 2022, “which is the second highest figure reached since data has been recorded (1993)”. Simultaneously, the increase in foreign direct investment has boosted the strengthening of the Spanish export base, thanks to the fact that “Spanish companies have managed to expand and diversify their presence in the global market, taking advantage of new commercial and collaborative opportunities”.
