Agri-Food Industry

A strong, resilient industry

With revenue of over €168.2 bn and employing around 559,700 people, the agri-food industry represents 23.8% of the manufacturing sector in Spain.

Spain is the fourth agri-food power in Europe and tenth in the world. Due to the quality of its products and its extensive range of items, the Spanish agri-food industry is highly regarded internationally.

The dynamic nature of Spanish agri-food exports, showing continuous years of surplus, and representing almost 20% of the country's total exports, have made the industry the fourth-ranked European exporter and the seventh worldwide in these products. 

Spanish agricultural production is extensive and diverse. Being one of the European and Worldwide leaders in agricultural land devoted to organic farming, it is also a leader in crops as olive oil, citrus fruits and fresh vegetables.

Nearly 30,000 companies in the industry currently export food and drink from Spain, with internationalisation being one of the main pillars of its strong position and growth.

In the case of Spain, the food and drink/tourism/cuisine link guarantees a high level of consumption and promotes the country brand, where agri-food production has become an essential part of the country's culture and traditions.

Alongside this tradition, the industry is undergoing a disruptive and decisive transformation towards digitalisation and sustainability to face new challenges in the form of climate change and adapting to new consumer trends. Spanish Technology Centres are world leaders in specific areas ranging from developing new ingredients to new high-quality protein sources, enhancing nutritional properties and precision agriculture. In recent years, Spain is developing a solid business ecosystem across the entire agri-food value chain.

Inés Lucía

Project Manager

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Why invest

in Spain’s
agri-food industry?

Agri-food is a key industry in the Spanish economy. It is strong and resilient and is the country's top-ranked industry.

Characteristic

Sound business structure

Spain boasts nearly 30,000 agri-food companies, including entrepreneurs and multinationals, and covering the entire value chain.

Characteristic

Access to an abundance of high-quality raw materials

Spain ranks second in the European Union in terms of arable land area, and its agricultural production is extensive and diverse.

Characteristic

International competitiveness

Spain is the fourth largest exporter of agri-food products in the European Union. Spain enjoys a positive trade balance of more than €19 bn.

Characteristic

Innovation

Spain has a large innovation ecosystem with more than 20 cutting-edge technology centres, 50 specialist universities and business associations, science parks, incubators and accelerators and start-ups.

Characteristic

Workforce

An industry that employs almost 559,700 people. An industry with skilled labour available and competitive labour costs.

Characteristic

Connectivity

An unbeatable network of infrastructure and logistics that is among the most competitive in the world. More than 17,550 km of motorways, 31 international airports and 46 ports.

Spain is the gateway to Europe, North Africa and Latin America. 

Characteristic

Digital transformation

The industry focuses on a more efficient and sustainable agri-food system across the whole value chain, backed by government, regional and European bodies.

What are the best
investment opportunities?

Organic products

Agritech

Foodtech

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Spain ranks first in Europe in terms of land dedicated to organic farming (2.99 million hectares), according to Ecovalia, and sixth in the world. 

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The organic farming area in Spain has increased by 38% since 2013. Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha and Catalonia are the regions with the highest number of organic farms.

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In recent years, this segment has risen markedly in Spain:

The number of industries has risen to 10.959 (+22% of increase in the last 5 years) and the number of operators to 65.424. 86% of the organic industry is focused in plant origin products (fruit&vegetables, beverages and oils), 14% in animals origin production

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The current organic market is around €3 billion, placing the country 10th worldwide.

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The relevant authorities (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) promote organic production as a priority industry, in line with the EU Green Deal strategy.

Europe /Organic Farming Area

Europe

19.5

Million ha

More than half of Europe's organic agricultural land is concentrated in four countries.




Spain

2.99

Million ha

Spain ranks first, with nearly 3 million hectares:

3.7%

of Europe’s farmland is organic (EU average 9.16%)

Top 10 countries have over 10% of agricultural land under organic management.


+1%

growth since 2021 
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Organic farming continues to grow in Spain, adding 316,550 more hectares in 2023 — a 12% increase compared to the previous year.

Evolution of Utilised Agricultural Area (UAA), excluding kitchen gardens or home plots in Spain (Eurostat, 2025). 


Source: FiBL Statistics, Eurostat Statistics Explained and E covalia

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Spain is one of the main agricultural production markets in Europe: It is the first country in the EU-28 in terms of Agricultural GDP (2.4%) from agriculture and the second in terms of agriculture area.

Spain enjoys a great knowledge in agriculture. Together with multinational companies, technological start-ups and SMEs are developing multiple solution to promote a highly efficient and sustainable agrifood system.

By region, Andalusia, Castilla León and Castilla La Mancha lead the way in terms of agricultural production value. The main crops, in this order, are cereals (barley, wheat and corn), olives for mills, vines, sunflowers for industrial use, tree fruits and nuts (almonds, oranges and mandarins mainly) and vegetables.

The global challenge of producing more food sustainably is also present in the Spanish agricultural industry. The high levels of digitalisation and technology that are increasingly required in this industry to increase productivity, improve efficiency and adapt production represent a great opportunity for investment.

An important ecosystem is being built in Spain around agricultural innovation. Multiple solutions are being developed to promote a highly efficient and sustainable agri-food system. These include:

·         Green biotechnology: soil regeneration, seed optimisation, etc.

·         Automated crop systems: Software and hardware for agriculture.

·         Robotics applied to agriculture.

·         Water management and new cultivation systems: Vertical farming, indoor farming, hydroponics and aquaponics, among others.

·         Intensive cultivation systems.

·         Marketplaces for Agriculture. 

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Boosted by this important industry, in recent years Spain has become one of the few "foodtech" nations worldwide with innovations that cover the entire agri-food value chain.

Spanish Technology Centres are world leaders in specific areas ranging from developing new ingredients, enhancing nutritional properties, using new conservation technology, industrial process scale-up of more innovative solutions and reducing the impact of packaging. Incubators and accelerators play a key role in this development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem

Some of the innovations taking place are:

·         New food sources: plant-based, fermentation, biosynthesis and insects.

·         New products: new ingredients, vegetarian and vegan products.

·         Packaging. Bio-based coating material for food packaging.

·         Traceability. Blockchain technology to ensure supply chain transparency.

·         Food Safety.

·         Food waste management and circular economy. Upcycling or reuse of foodstuffs.

·         Robotics and analitycs platforms.

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Leading regions
for the agri-food industry

Main food-producing regions

 

By turnover

Mapa sectors regions
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Icon Sales Sales: 2,7%

Find out more about Extremadura Arrow icon
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Icon Sales Sales: 8,2%

Find out more about Valencia Arrow icon
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Icon Sales Sales: 5,3%

Find out more about Murcia Arrow icon
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Icon Sales Sales: 0,5%

Find out more about Balearic Islands Arrow icon
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Icon Sales Sales: 1,8%

Find out more about La Rioja Arrow icon
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Icon Sales Sales: 1,7%

Find out more about Asturias Arrow icon
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Icon Sales Sales: 1,2%

Find out more about Canary Islands Arrow icon
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Icon Sales Sales: 1,3%

Find out more about Cantabria Arrow icon
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Icon Sales Sales: 7,5%

Find out more about Galicia Arrow icon
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Icon Sales Sales: 15,3%

Find out more about Andalusia Arrow icon
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Icon Sales Sales: 3,9%

Find out more about Aragon Arrow icon
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Icon Sales Sales: 8,5%

Find out more about Castille and Leon Arrow icon
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Icon Sales Sales: 6,9%

Find out more about Castilla-La Mancha Arrow icon
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Icon Sales Sales: 4,8%

Find out more about Madrid Arrow icon
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Icon Sales Sales: 3,5%

Find out more about Basque Country Arrow icon
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Icon Sales Sales: 23,7%

Find out more about Catalonia Arrow icon
>20
10%-20%
5%-10%
<5%

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