Catalonia and Barcelona have Europe's best foreign investment attraction strategy, according to the Financial Times Group

20/02/2023
Cataluña
Notas de prensa

Leer en fuente oficial

According to data from ACCIÓ-Catalonia Trade & Investment, this is the highest figure on record and highlights the strength of the foreign activity of Catalan companies despite a context of international complexity.

Catalan exports grew by 17.9% in 2022, reaching 94,927 million euros, the highest figure on record according to ACCIÓ - Catalonia Trade & Investment figures, based on the data published today by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism.

The Minister for Business and Labour, Roger Torrent, explained that "the Catalan exports sector is growing despite the apparent difficulties in a very complex global context which makes us more resilient and optimistic about the future".

For Torrent, "we reached the highest figure on record in terms of foreign sales, and we also increased the network of exporting companies: it is great news from the point of view of the country's economic structure and of the potential for the coming years."

The head of Business and Labour also stated that "we must continue working during 2023 to continue supporting these figures, from ACCIÓ-Catalonia Trade & Investment and collaborating with all the internationalization's agents of our country".

Main destinations of Catalonia's exports

The export growth in Catalonia during 2022 has been higher than the global foreign trade, which the World Trade Organization (WTO)places at3.5%.

By sector,Catalonia's exports in 2022 mainly addressed industries such as chemical products(+19.8%), food and beverages(+15.2%), and capital goods (+12.5%).

Concerning the main destinations, Catalan exports have been mainly directed to France(+26.8%), Germany(+16.4%), Italy(+16.2%), Portugal(+20.6%), Switzerland(+18%), the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, China, and Belgium.

When analyzing a more extended time, in the last ten years, Catalan exports have grown uninterruptedly, with the only exception of 2020 due to the effects of the pandemic. Thus, throughout the previous decade, Catalonia's sales abroad have increased by 61.3%.