Catalonia attracted foreign investments worth 3,883 million euros during 2022, according to data published this Tuesday by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism. This is a 25.6% increase compared to 2021, when foreign capital contributions amounted to 3,091 million, and the fourth highest figure in the historical series.
In absolute terms, during 2022 Catalonia was the third community in the State that attracted the most investments, surpassed by Madrid ---17,226 million--- and the Basque Country ---5,516 million---. In the last quarter of 2022 alone, Catalonia received 1,149.8 million in investment, 26.3% more than in the same period of 2021 (909.9 million).
During 2022, little more than one out of every ten euros invested in the State went to Catalonia. It should be noted that the statistics from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism compute in the territories where companies have their registered office, regardless of where the investment made by the company is subsequently materialized. This would explain, among other reasons, the difference with the data published by the Generalitat. At the beginning of March, the Minister of Business, Roger Torrent, estimated foreign investments in Catalonia in 2022 at 6,400 million euros, 2,517 million euros more than the figure published this Tuesday by the Government.
By sectors, the figures from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism highlight cinematographic activities (624.4 million), programming and IT consulting segments (519.4 million), storage and transport-related activities (189.4 million), building construction (188.2 million) and pharmaceutical product manufacturing (113.8 million), among others.
As for the State as a whole, foreign investment increased by 13.9% year-on-year in 2022, to 34,178 million euros. By countries, the United States stands out, concentrating 27.7% of the total investment, followed by the United Kingdom (17.8%) and Germany (14%). The Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, emphasized that the figures arrive in a "very complex" global context, marked by the war in Ukraine, which has unleashed an energy crisis and "unprecedented" inflation levels.
The Minister of Business, Roger Torrent, has applauded these foreign investment figures in Catalonia in 2022. "We make a clearly positive reading. We are at almost 4,000 million, 25% more than in 2021, already at pre-pandemic figures," Torrent said in statements to the ACN. "The data certifies that Catalonia is increasingly a leading hub in technology, company creation and attracting foreign investment projects in all sectors, but especially the industrial sector (20.3% of the total)," Torrent pointed out.