In the third quarter Madrid received a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow of 2,615 billion euros, up 59.6% from the previous quarter and 12% more than the same quarter the previous year. The data, published in the Ministry of Economy’s Register of Foreign Investment, reveal that the level of investment in the third quarter was the highest in the last 20 months, exceeding the average for the past three years.
Madrid was the recipient of 68.5% of all investments in Spain’s economy recorded in the third quarter of 2016, one of the highest percentages in recent years. Official data from the Register of Foreign Investment encompass the FDI received by the entire Region of Madrid, of which an estimated 60% to 80% is received by the capital city itself.
The city of Madrid remains the preferred destination for investments by foreign companies. The important dealings in the capital agreed in the past few months by prominent overseas firms from the USA, China, Japan, Germany and France attest to this.
Origin of investments
The largest share of FDI in Madrid came from the United States, which accounted for 23.6% of the inflow, followed by the Netherlands (21.5%), Luxembourg (16.6%), France (11%), Uruguay (10%), the United Kingdom (5.3%), Germany (3.2%), Switzerland (1.2%) and South Korea (1%). FDI from other countries made up the remaining 5.2%.
Investment by economic sector
In proportional order, the sectors where foreign direct investment was concentrated in the second quarter of 2016 were: metallurgy, manufacturing of iron products, steel (with a notable weight of 22.6%); real estate activities (19.1%); activities auxiliary to financial services (15.3%); agriculture, livestock, hunting and related services (9.1%); building construction (9.1%); financial services (7.2%); and wholesale trade and commercial intermediaries (3%). Other sectors comprised the remaining 14.6%.