Spain: An attractive country for investment
Spain is in an outstanding position worldwide in terms of the importance of its economy: the 16th largest economy in the world by GDP, the 13th country most attractive for foreign direct investment (FDI), the 15th largest issuer of FDI and the 15th largest exporter of commercial services.
Spain has a modern economy based on knowledge, in which services represent over 76% of business activity. It is an international center for innovation that benefits from a young and highly qualified population of a proactive nature, and competitive costs in the context of Western Europe, especially as regards graduate and post-graduate employees.
The country has worked hard to equip itself with state-of the art infrastructures capable of fostering the future growth of the economy. And this has been done alongside a major commitment to R&D.
There are interesting business opportunities for foreign investors in Spain in high value-added and strategic fields such as the ICT, renewable energy, biotechnology, environment, aerospace and automotive sectors, because of the attractive competitive environment.
In addition, companies that set up business in Spain can gain access not only to the Spanish national market, an attractively large market (over 47 million consumers) with a high purchasing power, but also to the markets of the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and North Africa), and Latin America, given its privileged geostrategic position, prestige and the strong presence of Spanish companies in these regions.
The main characteristics of our country are described in this Chapter: demographics, political and territorial structure, economy and the foreign trade sector.
