Spain attracted a total of 34.811 billion dollars in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2022, a figure that moved it up five places in the world ranking to 12^th position. This improved ranking is partly explained by the increase in FDI from 21.957 billion dollars in 2021 and 17.948 billion dollars in 2020. On the other hand, the level of FDI worldwide, with a decrease of 12% in the past year, has also placed Spain in an advantageous situation.

Global FDI reached 1.3 trillion dollars in 2022, according to the World Investment Report 2023 published by of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) on 5 July. Spain rose to 12^th place from 17^th the previous year, and expanded its FDI stock from 782.903 billion dollars in 2021 to 787.311 billion.

International project financing
In terms of the world ranking, the United States and China are again in the top two positions, while Singapore rises to third place at the expense of Hong Kong. They are followed by Brazil, Australia, Canada, India, Sweden, France, Mexico and Spain. In terms of the number of international project financing agreements, Spain was fourth behind the United States, India and the United Kingdom and ahead of Brazil. This milestone was achieved due to a 10% increase in the number of projects financed in this way.

The report highlights Spanish incentives for investment in renewable energy, which promotes 100% depreciation for facilities intended for self-consumption of electricity that use energy from renewable sources, as well as those installations for thermal use for own consumption that use energy from renewable sources , and which replace installations that use non-renewable fossil energy.

Global downturn environment
FDI growth in Spain occurred in an environment of global downturn caused by several factors, primarily the war in Ukraine, high food and energy prices, and debt pressures. International project finance and cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) also suffered due to tighter financing conditions, rising interest rates and uncertainty in capital markets.

According to first-quarter indicators, the trend this year continues to be weak in areas of international project finance and mergers and acquisitions. Greenfield investments are showing a positive trend, with an increase of 15% in the number of project announcements in 2022 that seems to have continued in the first months of 2023.

^{Photo: Unctad}