The Generalitat breaks the record for foreign investment: €1,051M in 2024

BarcelonaForeign investment in Catalonia attracted by the Generalitat, which has been growing year after year since 2018, broke the ceiling of 1,000 million euros last year. Through Acció, the agency for business competitiveness, the Catalan administration attracted up to 1,051 million euros, 19% more than the previous year. This is the highest figure in the historical series, which began in 1985.

"We make an excellent assessment. These 1,051 million mean that the Government has attracted 2.9 million euros per day of foreign investment in 2024," explained this Monday in a press conference the regional minister for Business and Employment, Miquel Sàmper. The investment attracted through Acción has reached 106 projects that have led to the creation of 4,984 jobs, 10% more than the previous year, and the maintenance of 3,245 jobs.

The data only include projects materialized during the year 2024, that is, productive investment – and not financial –, which excludes large investments such as that of the Chinese car manufacturer Chery to reindustrialize the former Nissan plant in the Zona Franca of Barcelona. Likewise, these figures do not indicate the total investment attracted by Catalonia last year, which has yet to be announced by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business.

Optimism, despite the changing world order

The minister stressed the importance of foreign investment in the face of increasing global protectionism and fragmentation, and was optimistic about the future performance of this indicator, despite the tensions and trade war started by the President of the United States, Donald Trump. In fact, a fall in global foreign investment of around 8% is expected, according to data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

"Despite the negative or complex circumstances, Catalonia will increasingly have this element of reliability and trust. I hope that next year it can go along the same lines," he added. In fact, the Generalitat has about 500 projects in its portfolio that may soon materialize, and an internal survey says that 57% of companies that have invested in Catalonia in 2024 plan to do so again.

Asian investments on the rise

The data for 2024 are similar to those of previous years: Germany (11%), the United States and France (9%) share the podium of the countries from which the most projects have materialized, which have come from more than 30 countries, with a considerable increase from Asian countries, which have increased their weight from 15% to 2. China, with 7%, occupies fourth place.

Some of the most important projects are Lufthansa (Germany), which has opened one in Barcelona hub digital; Elian (United States), which has invested in a digital protein plant, and Elis (France), which has opened a new plant in Granollers. The seven largest projects account for 60% of all investment.

Industry and technology

Most of the foreign investment attracted by the Generalitat (64%) has been of an industrial and technological nature: 37% is in the manufacturing industry and 27% in the technological field. Likewise, 66% comes from companies that were already established in Catalonia and that have expanded or made new investments, while 34% are of a technological nature. greenfield, that is, those that had no previous presence. By sectors, the most prominent are ICT and electronics (22%), the automotive industry (14%), the chemical sector (11%), food (7%) and video games (7%).