Eduardo González
Spain ranks sixteenth in the world economy in terms of GDP size, as well as being the thirteenth most attractive country for foreign direct investment (FDI) and the fifteenth largest FDI emitter, according to the new Guide to doing business in Spain, prepared by the law firm Garrigues for ICEX-Invest in Spain.
According to the 39th edition of the Guide, made public last Thursday, Spain’s attractiveness for investment “lies not only in its domestic market, but also in the possibility of operating with third markets from our country”. “This is so because Spain holds a privileged geostrategic position within the European Union, which facilitates access to a market of more than 2,400 million potential customers throughout the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa),” the document states. “In addition, and thanks to our strong economic, historical and cultural ties, Spain is an excellent platform for developing business with Latin America,” it adds.
According to the Guide, “the strong growth in international trade and foreign investment in recent years has made Spain one of the most internationalized countries in the world.” In terms of merchandise trade, Spain ranked in 2021 as the nineteenth largest exporter and fifteenth largest importer in the world, while in services trade, it is the fifteenth largest exporter and twenty-first largest importer in the world. Spanish exports and imports of goods account for 1.7% and 1.9% of the world total, respectively, and Spanish exports and imports of services account for 2.0% and 1.3% of the world total.
On the other hand, the study reveals that, “as would be expected”, EU countries are Spain’s main trading partners. Thus, during 2022, Spanish exports to the European Union accounted for 62.8% of the total and sales to Eurozone countries for 55.2%. As regards imports, these represented 44.7% in the case of imports from the EU and 37.7% in the case of imports from the euro zone. Specifically, France and Germany are Spain’s main trading partners.
Beyond the EU, Asia and Africa stand out, having replaced Latin America and North America in the position traditionally occupied by these regions as Spain’s main non-EU trade partners.
The document also highlights “the positive adaptation of Spanish companies to the new world economic scenario”, which is mainly reflected in the progressive diversification of the markets to which Spanish products and services are directed. Specifically, there has been a certain reorientation of Spanish exports, with the weight of exports to the EU slipping in favor of the rest of the world. The share of exports to the EU in total exports has gone from 70.1% in 2007 to 62.8% in 2022.
In the area of investments, Spain is positioned as one of the main recipients worldwide. Specifically, Spain is the thirteenth largest recipient of foreign investment worldwide in terms of stock (and sixth in the EU), with 819,725 million US dollars (more than 771,400 million euros), ahead of world powers such as Japan, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom and Italy. According to figures from the Foreign Investment Register of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, some 20,000 companies with foreign capital operate in Spain, employing some 1,800,000 people. On the other hand, Spain is the world’s fifteenth largest issuer of FDI in terms of stock, with a volume equivalent to 600,808 million dollars (more than 565,350 million euros) in 2021.
The Guide highlights the measures adopted by the Government to improve the competitiveness of the Spanish economy and maximize the contribution of the foreign sector to growth and job creation, with special attention to the access of companies to the financing necessary for their internationalization, and analyzes the most relevant regulatory aspects that influence foreign investment in Spain, with special attention to the particularities of the Spanish legal system in areas such as corporate law, taxation, labor and social security law, money laundering prevention policy, the main calls for public business aid, financial sector regulation, intellectual and industrial property law, e-commerce regulations, and accounting and auditing regulations, among others.
The Guide to doing business in Spain is one of the most downloaded documents on the ICEX Invest in Spain website, attracting more than 50,000 users from a wide variety of backgrounds and nationalities each year. Specifically, the latest edition attracted users from 2,605 cities and 156 countries, with Mexico, the United Kingdom and Colombia accounting for 10% of all visits.
