- The productive foreign investment position in Spain grew by 1.9% in 2015
- 18 million employment positions depend on this investment in Spain, some 1.5% more than in 2014
The total position of foreign investment (stock) in Spain was positioned at 387,315 million euros upon closing 2015, with an increase of 0.5% over 2014 figures. If the Entities Holding Foreign Securities (ETVE in Spanish) that do not have direct economic effects are deducted, the productive investment reached 347,745 million euros, some 1.9% more than in the previous tax year, according to data from the 12,346 companies that feature in the Foreign Investments Registry (RIE in Spanish).
1.18 million employment positions depend on these productive investments, some 1.5% more than in 2014. The turnover generated by foreign stock, rose to 389,450 million euros, around a third of the Spanish GDP, with an increase of 2% over the previous year.
The profits of the companies with foreign investor shares – for these purposes only those with percentages above 10% are taken into account – increased by 6.6%, to 21,310 million euros.
Foreign investment stock is the result of adding the value of the shares in net worth (book value) of the company in which the direct investment is made, and the outstanding balance of the net loans of non-resident investors to these companies.
With regards to the source of the investment, the United States tops the list, with 14.4%; followed by the United Kingdom (12.8%), Italy (11.8%) and France (11.5%). The top ten countries represent 80.7% of the stock.
The stock by investment receiving sectors has remained stable over recent years, and centres on the supply of electrical energy and gas (15.8%); the manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products (8.7%); telecommunications (6.7%); wholesale trade and commercial intermediation (6.5%); and real estate activities (4.9%), among others.
By autonomous communities, 87% of the stock distribution is concentrated in just four of them: Madrid (64.5%); Catalonia (13.7%); Asturias (5.1%); and the Basque Country (3.7%), though it should be noted that the so-called “headquarters effect” tends to overestimate the locations in the major economic hubs.
The stock statistics are published with so much delay because, for the purposes of the RIE, the accountable closure of the 2015 tax year of foreign companies that invest in Spain is performed until 30th June 2016 and the companies have a further 9 months to declare their investments (until March 2017).
Source: Ministry for the Economy, Industry and Competitiveness