Foreign investment in Spain declined by 18.17% in 2023 compared with the same period a year earlier, totaling 28.214 billion euros, according to the DataInvex investment register update from the Secretary of State for Trade.
It wasn’t a strong year, but it also wasn’t disastrous for foreign capital in the country. The 2023 figure sits just above the decade’s average of 27.838 billion euros. What stands out is the gap to the record year of 2018, when 55.568 billion euros flowed in, marking the peak of capital attraction to Spain.
By region, the four communities that attracted the most money last year were Madrid, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, and the Basque Country, in that order. Together, they account for almost nine out of ten euros arriving in the country, with Madrid as the leading recipient, at 15.323 billion euros, more than the combined total of the other three. Yet, investment in the central region fell by 12.68% compared with the previous year, while Catalonia (4.643 billion euros) and the Valencian Community (3.375 billion euros) rose by 17.9% and 63.59%, respectively. In a comparison with 2022, the Basque Country (1.555 billion euros) experienced the largest decline, at 71.89%.
The remaining 11.7% of foreign money entering Spain came from the rest of the regions: Andalusia (586 million euros), Asturias (527 million), Murcia (475 million), Galicia (416 million), Balearic Islands (298 million), Castilla-La Mancha (291 million), Aragón (266 million), the Canary Islands (251 million), and Extremadura (101 million). Regions below 100 million in foreign investment include Castilla y León (88 million), Navarra (6.5 million), Ceuta and Melilla (2.8 million), Cantabria (1.1 million), and La Rioja (957,000 euros).
The sector that attracted the most foreign investment was oil and natural gas extraction, with 3.4 billion euros, followed by wholesale trade (3.015 billion), telecommunications (2.472 billion), and electricity and gas supply (2.080 billion).
Regarding the country of origin, Luxembourg led with 10.575 billion euros, a result partly attributed to its favorable tax regime that makes it attractive for international investors to conduct operations from there. It is followed by the United Kingdom (3.270 billion), Germany (2.943 billion), the Netherlands (2.287 billion), and France (1.929 billion). These five geographies, though in a different order, have consistently been the main sources of capital into Spain since records began in 1993, in the period tracked by DataInvex.
What stands out is the emergence of Canada as the fifth-largest origin of investment last year, with 1.073 billion euros. Looking at the historical series, Canada typically ranks around 24th, making its 2023 position notable even as the overall trend fluctuates over time. [Source: DataInvex, Secretaría de Estado de Comercio.]