Foreign companies in Spain account for over a quarter of the country's total turnover

2 % of the companies in Spain have a foreign parent company and represent 27 % of total sales.

There are currently 18,205 foreign companies operating in Spain, a little over 2% of the total companies active in the country, and yet they punch far above their weight in economic and social terms. These companies contribute 27% of its turnover at almost 380 billion euros, and generate direct employment for almost 970,000 workers, representing 16% of the total employment in Spain.

These data are from the report on companies published by Informa D&B in December 2017 entitled Study of companies with foreign shareholders in Spain,

By number of foreign countries, the ranking is headed by Germany with 16% of the total, followed by France with 11%, United Kingdom with 10% and United States –the first non-EU country– with 9%. A breakdown of the turnover shows a change in the ranking, with France in first place with 19% of the total, ahead of Germany (16%) and the United States (11%).

Investment by sectors
By number of companies, 25% of foreign companies are engaged in retail activities; construction companies account for 15%; business services for 14%; and industrial activities for 11% of total foreign companies, although this last category has a greater relative weight within foreign companies as a whole.

In fact, in terms of its proportion of business within the total turnover by foreign companies, the industrial sector represents 38%; retail, 31%; energy, 8%; and business services, 7% of the total turnover for the sector.

Location
40% of the foreign companies that choose to set up in Spain establish their head office in Madrid. This is followed by Barcelona with 29% and Andalusia with 8%. These regions also attract the highest total number of companies. However, an analysis of the percentage of foreign companies compared to the total reveals that Madrid continues in first place with 4.5% while Barcelona is second with 3.5%, and the Balearic Islands come third with 3%.