The Mobile World Congress (MWC) exceeded expectations and once again surpassed the 100,000 attendee mark in this year's edition, a goal it achieved for the first time in 2016 and from which it had strayed due to the pandemic. The growth in congress attendees was accompanied by an increasingly high level of executives participating in the event, with half of the attendees holding a management position or higher, a commitment that the fair's organizers have been reinforcing in recent years.
Slowly forgetting the halt caused by COVID, the Mobile achieved another milestone in the 2024 edition, surpassing an economic impact of more than 500 million euros for the first time, specifically, reaching 502 million euros. The annual estimate given to quantify the event's impact includes both spending in the host economy due to the MWC and the taxes collected by the Government from its celebration.
Based on a report by the GSMA, the organization responsible for organizing the event, it has been concluded that this year's figure more than doubles that obtained in the first edition held in Barcelona, 18 years ago, in 2006. All in all, the fair has contributed more than 6.3 billion euros to the local economy since it arrived in the Catalan capital.
Beyond the expenditure involved in the event, more than 9,200 temporary workers were hired to meet the needs of the GSMA itself, as well as Fira de Barcelona and the participating companies. In total, since 2006, it is estimated that the MWC has generated more than 160,000 part-time jobs, often the first jobs for young people who fill their piggy banks by working for a week.
"MWC and Barcelona is the perfect combination of innovation, collaboration, and mutual success. Without the support of the host city and the people of Barcelona, we would not be able to organize such a successful event, year after year," said John Hoffman, CEO of the GSMA, who a few days ago bid farewell to his until now Director General, Mats Granryd. "The announcement of the MWC's economic impact in Barcelona is a message of confidence in the city and is proof of our shared success. After 18 years of relationship, we can affirm that the MWC is much more than a congress for Barcelona, and that Barcelona is much more than a city for the GSMA," added Barcelona's Deputy Mayor for Economy, Jordi Valls.