
Foreign Direct Investment
After falling as a result of the financial crisis, Spanish FDIs recovered in recent years due to an increase in competitiveness and investor confidence in the country. Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic that hit the Iberian state hard, FDI inflows totalled USD 9.7 billion in 2021: although increasing compared to one year earlier (+72%), they were still much lower than the pre-crisis level (USD 17.4 billion in 2019 – UNCTAD’s 2022 World Investment Report). In the same year, FDI stock reached USD 819.7 billion. The industry attracting the most foreign investment in 2021 was ‘electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply’, followed by investment in ‘specialised construction activities’, ‘programming, consultancy and related activities’, and ‘retail trade, except motor vehicles’. As for the countries where this investment came from, this list was led by Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the U.S. and Germany (data by the State Secretariat for Trade at the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism). The Region of Madrid posted the highest investment volume over the year, ahead of Catalonia, the Basque Country, Andalusia, and the Region of Valencia. Overall, Spain was the fourth country in the world in 2021 in terms of the most greenfield projects received from foreign direct investment (fDi Intelligence). According to the latest figures from OECD, FDI inflows to Spain reached USD 21.3 billion in the first half of 2022, compared to USD 14.4 billion in the same period one year earlier (+47.9%). Between January and November 2022, Spain attracted FDI projects worth an estimated USD 32.8 billion, up by 23.9% from the same period of 2021, according to the latest figures from fDi Markets.
The country’s strengths in terms of FDI attractiveness include a restructured financial sector, the boom in tourism, its highly efficient transport network, its development of renewable energies and the cultural proximity to Latin America, with the presence of a number of Spanish multinational companies. Spain also aspires to become one of the world's key research actors. On the other hand, the country has high levels of private and public debt, a very negative net external position and a high level of structural unemployment. However, Spain suspended the FDI liberalisation regime and government authorisation is now required for direct investments of more than 10% of a Spanish company's capital made by residents of non-EU or EFTA countries (including the UK) in certain sectors, including critical infrastructure and technologies, media and food safety. Spain ranks 63rd out of 82 countries in the Economist Business Environment ranking and 36th out of 63 in the World Competitiveness Ranking. Furthermore, it is ranked 51st out of 176 economies in the 2023 Index of Economic Freedom.
Foreign Direct Investment | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
FDI Inward Flow (million USD) | 17,417 | 5,678 | 9,777 |
FDI Stock (million USD) | 769,277 | 864,807 | 819,725 |
Number of Greenfield Investments* | 813 | 548 | 827 |
Value of Greenfield Investments (million USD) | 21,454 | 13,420 | 28,742 |
Source: UNCTAD - Latest available data.
Note: * Greenfield Investments are a form of Foreign Direct Investment where a parent company starts a new venture in a foreign country by constructing new operational facilities from the ground up.
Country Comparison For the Protection of Investors | Spain | OECD | United States | Germany |
Index of Transaction Transparency* | 7.0 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 5.0 |
Index of Manager’s Responsibility** | 6.0 | 5.3 | 9.0 | 5.0 |
Index of Shareholders’ Power*** | 6.0 | 7.3 | 9.0 | 5.0 |
Source: Doing Business - Latest available data.
Note: *The Greater the Index, the More Transparent the Conditions of Transactions. **The Greater the Index, the More the Manager is Personally Responsible. *** The Greater the Index, the Easier it Will Be For Shareholders to Take Legal Action.
