Madrid establishes itself as the authentic economic engine of Spain. In 2021, it received 20,944 million euros of gross productive investment (not ETVE) from abroad, according to information provided by the Foreign Investment Registry (RIE).
The number represents a 14.6% increase Over the previous year. Madrid Investment Attraction (MIA), the foreign investment attraction office attached to the Madrid City Council’s General Directorate of Economy, would like to point out that this figure means that the Madrid region attracted 72.8% of total gross foreign investment (FDI) arriving in Spain. Madrid continues to lead the attraction of companies and investment on a national scale, and is consolidated as one of the main European and global destinations for productive investment.
To give an idea of the magnitude of these figures, foreign investment accounted for 9% of regional GDP and reached a value of 3,102 euros per inhabitant. As has become customary in recent years, acquisitions had a very significant weight in the investment flows received by the Community of Madrid and represented 52.3% of the total flows in 2021. The increases carried out by companies of Existing foreign capital amounted to 27.1%, while new investments (greenfields and brownfields). they represented the remaining 20.6%.
Countries with the highest volume of investment in Madrid
In 2021, Madrid received investments, mostly from OECD countries (89.6%) and, fundamentally, from Europe (58.1%), in line with the trend of the last decade.
Stands out as the main investor in the year France, with 6,484 million (31.0% of the total). Of these, close to 5,000 million correspond to a single operation: the purchase of Cobra (ACS) by Vinci.
It was followed by the United States, with investment at levels similar to those of the previous year (3,275 million, -5.7%, 15.6% of the total in the year).
Australia was the third investor in Madrid during 2021, with 2,479 million (11.8% of the total). The purchase of Naturgy by the IFM fund, for 2,403 million, explains this relevant presence of a country that had never previously had such an investor weight.
Greenfield projects in Madrid
In 2021, 178 new cross-border greenfield investment projects were announced in the Community of Madrid (36% more than in 2020), with an associated investment of 3,989 million dollars (second best record in the 2003-2021 series) and the generation of 14,884 local jobs.
The municipality of Madrid has concentrated 84% of the projects received by the territory of the region since 2003, 73% of the investment and 71% of the employment. Madrid is the third city that receives the most greenfield projects in Europe since 2003 and the twelfth in the world. In 2021, the capital has risen to the ninth position in the world.
Recovery of employment linked to foreign investment
Madrid has also led the recovery of employment levels linked to foreign investment. In the last five years available, 2014-2019, the figures reflect a 75% increase in employment linked to foreign investment in Madrid. With 582,928 jobs according to the latest data available, Madrid concentrates the 34.2% of total employment in foreign companies in Spain.
Madrid, an attractive city for investment
The good figures recorded in terms of FDI respond to the attractiveness of the city for business, its intrinsic advantages and a business climate prone to investment. As declared by María Ángeles Prieto Arroyo, general director of Economy, Innovation and Employment of the Madrid City Council “at Madrid Investment Attraction (MIA) we believe that the efforts to favor and facilitate the attraction and maintenance of foreign investment are important, even more so in a context such as the current one marked by changes in the dynamics of international production, uncertainty about the new parameters that will guide investment and a growing competition of cities and territories to obtain greater value from sustainable international flows”.
