Barcelona has a population of over 1.6 million people and is the economic center of its metropolitan region containing nearly 5 million inhabitants. The city has a diverse economy focused on services, commerce, tourism, and new industries like information and communications technology. Barcelona airport served over 47 million passengers in 2017, making it the 7th busiest in Europe, while the port handled over 3 million containers, demonstrating the city's importance as a transportation hub.
2. 3
Table of
Contents
4 Privileged location
5 Population and surface area
5 Foreign population
6 Accessible and well-connected
7 Airport
7 Port of Barcelona
8 Driving force of a large diversified
economic area
10 Economic activity
10 Production specialisation
12 Foreign investment
13 Exports
14 Diversified economic activity
16 Manufacturing and 4.0 industry
17 ICT Sector / Information and Communication
18 Green and circular economy
18 Health and Biotech
18 Social and solidarity economy
19 Retail and commerce
20 Tourism
20 Congress activity
21 Digital city, creativity, research and
innovation
22 Business Innovation and Research
23 Innovation Ecosystem
24 Creative industries
25 Talent generation and pole of attraction
26 Jobs in Barcelona
26 Labour market participation
26 Salaries
26 Universities and business schools
27 Entrepreneurial city with competitive
costs
28 Companies
28 Business creation
29 Offices and industrial land market
29 Cost of living and other costs
30 Compact city with social cohesion
31 Disposable Gross Household Income by District
31 Foreign-resident population by district
31 Population at risk of poverty
32 Safe city
33 Quality of life and sustainability
34 Climate
34 Energy and environment
35 Sustainable mobility
35 Culture and Education
36 International positioning as a city that
adds value
3. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
4
GDP per capita
≤ 15.000
15.001 - 20.000
20.001 - 25.000
25.001 - 30.000
≥ 30.001
European
megaregions
Barcelona-Lyon
megaregion
Catalonia
Barcelona
province
Barcelona
Metropolitan
Region
Barcelona
Metropolitan
Area
Barcelona
10.3%of Spain’s
population in the
Metropolitan
Region
Barcelona, at the centre of a mega-region
with 27 million inhabitants
• Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, has a population
of 1,600,000 people and is at the heart of a
metropolitan region of close to 2,500 km2
with nearly
5,000,000 inhabitants, representing 63.8% and 10.3%
of the Catalan and Spanish population, respectively.
• In relation to the consolidated metropolitan
agglomerations, the population volume of the
metropolitan region of Barcelona is approximately
25% that of New York, while it is higher than the areas
of Berlin, Montreal and Stockholm.
• The cosmopolitan, diverse and intercultural spirit of
Barcelona can be seen in the fact that 18.5% of the
city’s residents are foreign - the highest percentage
in history - and for the first time ever, this collective
exceeds 300,000 residents.
• The current development of the metropolitan regions
goes beyond their geographical area, creating the
mega-region or polycentric agglomeration of cities as
a natural unit of economic influence in a geographical
area. Most notable is the one in the south of
Europe formed by the Barcelona-Lyon corridor,
which encompasses 27.3 million inhabitants and a
production of over 700,000 million euros, ascribing
it a significant critical mass among the 12 European
mega-regions.
• Barcelona has easy access to very dynamic large
markets:the EU common market, which provides
access to 510 million people. In addition, it forms
part of the axis of the Mediterranean corridor, a
Trans-European Network for transporting goods
with a direct impact on an area of 250 million
inhabitants (50% of the EU population), so improving
this connection would be a strategic opportunity to
increase the market share of the port traffic of goods
coming from Asia. It also offers the strategic potential
of relations with the 43 countries that form the Union
for the Mediterranean, which include the territories of
those in Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Privileged
location
Font: Marull, J., Galletto, V., Domene, E., Trullén, J. 2013.
Emerging megaregions: a newspatial scale to explore urban
sustainability. Land Use Policy 34, 353–366
4. 5
Demographic indicators of Barcelona
Age structure (2018)
12.6%
0-14
65.9%
15-64
21.5%
65 i més
Life expectancy (2015)
80.8
Men
86.6
Women
83.9
Total
Birth rate (2017) Mortality rate (2016)
8.3‰ 9.6‰
Fertility rate* (2016)
37.1‰
* Births for every 1,000 women between 15 and 49 years
Source: Department of Statistics of the Barcelona City Council, Public Health Agency,
Barcelona Health Consortium
FOREIGN POPULATION
Percentage of foreign people over the total
population
2000
1.9%
2008
17.4%
2013
17.4%
2015
16.3%
2016
16.6%
2017
17.8%
2018
18.5%
Note: data from 1 January of each year
Source: Department of Statistics of Barcelona City Council
Population of foreign nationals in Barcelona according
to country of origin , 2018 (%)
Source: Department of Statistics of Barcelona City Council
POPULATION AND SURFACE AREA
Population and surface area, January 2017
POPULATION
(INHABITANTS)
POPULATION
O/ SPANISH TOTAL
SURFACE AREA
(KM2
)
DENSITY
(INHAB/KM2
)
Metropolitan
Area*
4,812,948 10.3% 2,464.4 1,953
Catalonia 7,534,813 16.1% 32,108 234.7
Spain 46,659,302 100.0% 505,968.4 92.2
* Barcelonès, Baix Llobregat, Maresme, Vallès Oriental and Vallès Occidental
Source: Department of Statistics of Barcelona City Council, Idescat, INE
Population in 20 agglomerations around the world,
2018*
Tokyo
38,050,000
Shanghai
24,115,000
New York
21,575,000
Mexico City
20,565,000
Los Angeles
15,620,000
Buenos Aires
15,520,000
Paris
10,980,000
London
10,585,000
Hong Kong
7,380,000
Boston-
Providence
7,315,000
Toronto
6,635,000
San Francisco
6,540,000
Madrid
6,385,000
Milan
5,290,000
Barcelona
4.812.948
Sydney
4,390,000
Berlin
4,120,000
Seattle
3,860,000
Montreal
3,585,000
Stockholm
1,565,000
* Estimate updated July 2018. For Barcelona, Idescat data 1 January 2018
Source: Demography World Urban Areas: 12th Annual Edition April 2017
PRIVILEGED LOCATION
Barcelona
1,628,936
inhabitants
3.5%
as % of Spain
102.2 km2
surface area
15,944.9
inhab/km2
France
5.1%
Pakistan
6.4%
China
6.8%
Italy
10.4%
Other
51.5%
Morocco
4.3%
Colombia
3.4%
Honduras
3.2%
Peru
3.0%
Philippines
3.0%
Bolivia
2.8%
5. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
6
Malaga
Algeciras Motril
Almeria
Murcia
Alicante
Cartagena
Madrid
Irun
Valencia
Castellón
Perpignan
Marseille
Geneva
Bern
Barcelona
Tarragona
Montepellier
Avignon
Lyon
Rabat
Freiburg
Clobenza
Duisburg
Hamburg
Copenhagen
Stockholm
Hällsberg Saint Petersburg
Helsinki
MetzDijon
London
Milan
Genova
Brussels
Mediterranean Corridor
FERRMED network
Ports
Transport by Ferry
Mediterranean
Corridor
3M
TEU
32.3% annual
increase
Accessible and
well-connected
Source: FERRMED
Great potential as a logistics hub of the
Mediterranean
• With regard to access and economic infrastructures, in
an area of 5 kilometres, the city offers an international
airport, the port, the trade fair,Zona Franca logistics
and industrial area and a logistics platform, which
altogether offer huge potential as a logistics centre of
the Mediterranean.
• In 2017, a record figure of 47.3 million passengers was
reached at El Prat airport, which is an increase of 7.1%
on the previous year.This result ensures that the city
holds on to its seventh position amongst the principal
European airports in the ranking of the Airport Council
International.The dynamism of the international
passenger traffic at El Prat makes it close to three-
quarters (73.1%) of the total.
• The port activity recorded 3 million TEUs and 60.1
million tonnes transported in 2017, which are in
fact year-on-year increases of 32.3% and 26.3%
respectively.
6. 7
ACCESSIBLE AND WELL-CONNECTED
AIRPORT
Barcelona airport
Source: Spanish airports and air navigation (AENA)
Main European airports according to volume of passengers,
2017
VARIATION (%)
2017/16
London Heathrow (LHR)
78,010,074
+3.0
Paris Roissy (CDG)
69,472,922
+5.4
Amsterdam (AMS)
68,515,425
+7.7
Frankfurt (FRA)
64,500,386
+6.1
Istanbul (IST)
63,727,448
+6.0
Madrid (MAD)
53,402,506
+5.9
Barcelona (BCN)
47,284,500
+7.1
London Gatwick (LGW)
45,554,606
+5.7
Munich (MUC)
44,573,176
+5.5
Rome-Fiumicino (FCO)
41,281,749
-1.1
Source:Airports Council International. Airport Traffic Report, 2017 and Barcelona Air Routes
Development Committee (CDRA)
Barcelona airport. International flights, 2017
GEOGRAPHICAL AREA INCREASE FOR 2016/2017 NUMBER PASSENGERS
North America 30.2% 1,457,620
Africa 8.1% 1,003,827
Middle East 4.3% 1,376,748
Latin America 34.7% 603,904
Asia 73.8% 258,421
Source: AENA and Barcelona Air Routes Development Committee (CDRA)
AVE Barcelona - Madrid high-speed rail
Source: Department of Statistics, Barcelona City Council
PORT OF BARCELONA
Traffic (millions)
2016 2017
Goods (tonnes) 47.6 60.1
Containers (TEU*) 2.2 3.0
Passengers 4.0 4.1
* TEU: Measure of sea transport capacity equivalent to a twenty-foot container
Source: Barcelona Port Authority
Infrastructures
Land surface area Wharfs and moorings
1,081 ha 22 km
Source: Barcelona Port Authority
Cruise ships indicators
2016 2017
Cruise passengers 2,683,594 2,712,247
Embarkation 773,601 720,512
Disembarkation 776,610 719,871
Traffic 1,133,288 1,271,864
Cruise ship visits 758 778
Source: Barcelona Port Authority
4,700,520
Intercontinental
passengers
44,154,693
2016
3.9
2016
133,635
2016
47,284,500
2017
4.1
2017
2 h 30 m
157,763
2017
Total passengers
Passengers (millions) Journey duration
Goods (in tonnes)
+18.5%
Intercontinental
passengers
45
Intercontinental
destinations
47.3M
passengers
at its airport
in 2017
7th
European
Airport
7. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
8
Driving force
of a large
diversified
economic area
Barcelona is a dynamic economic
engine with a diversified structure and
international recognition
• Barcelona continues to work on strengthening its
capacity to attract companies, employment, talent
and foreign investment with the support represented
by the city’s good international positioning.
• The gross domestic product (GDP) of the city of
Barcelona in 2016 was 43,700 euros per inhabitant.
With regard to the distribution of gross added value
by sector - according to the estimate calculated in
2017 - most notable is the weight of business services
(14.8%), commerce and repairs (13.2%), education,
health and social services (12.2%), information and
communications (8.1%) and the hotel sector (7.3%).
• In 2017, Catalonia generated a GDP of 234,651 million
euros, representing 20.1% of Spain’s total GDP. In the
same year, the GDP per capita of the Principality was
15% above that of the European Union.
• In 2017, the GDP of the city of Barcelona and Catalonia
grew by +3,3% and +3,4%, - respectively - in real
terms.
20.1%
Catalonia
generates
of Spain's total
GDP
8. 9
Barcelona has an open economy connected
to the world
• The attractiveness of the Barcelona territory for
foreign investment is confirmed by the various
prestigious rankings:according to the KPMG Global
Cities Investment Monitor 2018, Barcelona was in
ninth place among the principal urban areas across
the world for attracting foreign investment projects in
2017, gaining 135 greenfield projects.
• In fact, Barcelona is the European city that presents
the best strategy for promoting and attracting foreign
investment for 2018/19, according to the FDi report
Cities and Regions of the Future 2018/19 (Financial
Times Group).This prestigious source states that
Catalonia has the best future prospects out of all
the regions in the south of Europe - ahead of the
Community of Madrid - and Barcelona is second place
out of the cities in the south of Europe in the same
category.
• Productive foreign investment1
in Catalonia was
€3,171.3 million in 2017. Foreign investment from
within the European Union makes up nearly three-
quarters of the foreign investment in Catalonia
(74% of the total).The main investors were are the
Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom.
1 Productive investment is considered to be investment that does not take ETVEs into
account, which are companies established in Spain that hold the securities of foreign
companies.
• On the other hand, according to the FDI Markets data
from the Financial Times, during the five-year period
2013-2017, the Principality was the territory with
the highest number of foreign investment projects
in Spain, having attracted 591 projects (44% of the
total of the main destination regions), involving an
investment of €16,075 million and creating 44,061
direct jobs, therefore attaining 4th
position in Europe
for job creation in the period 2013-2017.
• The Catalan territory is home to the headquarters
of approximately 8,600 foreign companies in 2018,
the main countries of origin being Germany (13.1%),
France (12.4%) and the United States (11.7%).
• In 2017, exports from the province of Barcelona
reached €54,771.6 million, which means that it
achieved a new historical record for the seventh
consecutive year. In comparison with the previous
year, sales outside the Barcelona area grew by 7%,
in a favourable context facilitated by the expansive
measures of the European Central Bank and
industry’s improved competitiveness.
• The area of Barcelona continues to lead the exports
ranking of the Spanish state, accounting for one-
fifth (19.8%) of total sales abroad and 40,634 export
companies, which represent a quarter of the total of
the State (25,1%).
DRIVING FORCE OF A LARGE DIVERSIFIED ECONOMIC AREA
exporting urban
area in Spain
1st New historical
record in exports
volume for the 7th
consecutive year
9. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
10
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
Gross domestic product at market prices* (GDP), 2016
(Current prices in € millions)
GDP GDP PER INHABITANT
MILLIONS OF EUROS THOUSANDS OF EUROS INDEX CATALONIA-100
Barcelona 69,420.3 43.7 144.5
Barcelona Metropolitan
Area*
148,144.7 31.3 107.8
* Base 2010. Market value
Source: Statistical Institute of Catalonia (IDESCAT)
Gross domestic product at market prices
(current prices in € millions)
CATALONIA SPAIN (%) CAT/SP
2015 215,772 1,081,165 20.0
2016 224,751 1,118,743 20.1
2017 234,651 1,166,319 20.1
Source: Statistical Institute of Catalonia and INE (National Statistics Institute)
Harmonised per capita GDP on purchasing power parity,
2017
125
100
75
50
25
0
Catalonia Spain Euro Zone
Index UE 28 = 100
Source: Statistical Institute of Catalonia (IDESCAT)
GDP growth at constant prices, 2011-2017
(Variation rate for volume %)
4
3
2
1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Barcelona Catalonia
Sources: City Council Data Office. GTP Analysis Department of Barcelona City Council and
Idescat
PRODUCTION SPECIALISATION
Productive structure. Employees by economic sector,
2017 (%)
BARCELONA BMR CATALONIA SPAIN
Agriculture 0.0 0.1 0.3 0.4
Industry 7.4 14.0 16.3 14.1
Construction 2.7 4.1 4.7 5.3
Services 89.9 81.8 78.7 80.0
TOTAL 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: Department of Statistics of Barcelona City Council and Idescat
Main branches of activity according to GVA in Barcelona,
2017 (% of total)
Business
services
14.8%
Commerce
13.2%
Information and
communications
8.1%
Hotels and catering
7.3%
Education
6.3%
Health and social
services
5.9%
Transport and storage
5.3%
Public
authority
5.2%
Property activities
(excluding imputed
income)
5.2%
Financial and
insurance activities
4.6%
Manufacturing
industry
4.5%
Construction
3.0%
Energy, water and
waste
2.9%
Artistic and
recreational activities
2.3%
Source: City Council Data Office. GTP Analysis Department of Barcelona City Council
-0.7
0.5
-3.4
-1.0
2.1
-2.9 -1.4
1.9
3.33.5 3.4
3.8
3.6 3.4
115
106
92
10. 11
Companies classified by economic sector in Barcelona,
2017 (% of total)
Business services*
27,2%
Commerce and repairs
17,9%
Education, health and
social services
10,2%
Real-estate
activities
8,4%
Construction
7,9%
Hotels and catering
6,4%
Other services
5,0%
Transport and
storage
4,7%
Information and
communications
3,8%
Artistic, cultural and
leisure activities
3,0%
Manufacturing
industry
2,8%
Financial and
insurance activities
2,3%
Energy and water
0,4%
* Business services contain professional, scientific, technical, administrative and auxiliary
services
Source: DIRCE, INE
DRIVING FORCE OF A LARGE DIVERSIFIED ECONOMIC AREA
Business
services
Information and
communication
Education, Health
and Social Services
Commerce
Hotels and
catering
11. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
12
Number of foreign companies established in Catalonia
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN 2018 % OF TOTAL
Germany 1,129 13.1
France 1,070 12.4
United States 1,010 11.7
Italy 746 8.6
Netherlands 681 7.9
United Kingdom 665 7.7
Luxembourg 581 6.7
Switzerland 415 4.8
Denmark 275 3.2
Japan 254 2.9
Portugal 207 2.4
Belgium 192 2.2
Sweden 134 1.6
Austria 110 1.3
China 91 1.1
Other 1,083 12.5
TOTAL 8,642 100
Source: ACCIO. Government of Catalonia
Investment abroad (in millions of euros)
2016 2017 % CAT/SPAIN
Catalonia
4,415.3 6,421.0
Spain
37,520.2 40,160.9
Note:Total gross investment excluding Foreign-Securities Holding Companies (ETVEs)
Source: Datainvex, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism
Main urban areas in the world for attracting foreign
investment projects, 2017
URBAN AREA POSITION PROJECTS 2017
London 1 390
Singapore 2 354
Paris 3 338
Dubai 4 248
Shanghai 5 173
Hong Kong 6 161
New York 7 156
Bangalore 8 137
Barcelona 9 135
Dublin 10 132
Source: Global Cities Investment Monitor 2018, KPMG
FOREIGN INVESTMENT
Foreign investment (in millions of euros)
2016 2017
Catalonia
5,139.5 3,171.3
Spain
26,146.8 24,183.9
Note:Total gross investment excluding Foreign-Securities Holding Companies (ETVE)
Source: Datainvex, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism
Foreign investment in Catalonia by country of origin,
2017 (percentage of total)
Netherlands
21.4%
France
15.6%
United Kingdom
10.0%
Luxembourg
9.0%
Germany
7.9%
United States
6.6%
Egypt
5.0%
Italy
4.3%
Andorra
3.3%
Mexico
2.9%
Switzerland
2.1%
Peru
2.0%
Israel
0.9%
Japan
0.9%
Note:Total gross investment excluding Foreign-Securities Holding Companies (ETVE)
Source: Datainvex, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism
16.0%
12. 13
Main destination countries of Barcelona exports, 2017
(percentage of total)*
France
14.5%
Germany
11.9%
Italy
8.7%
Portugal
6.6%
United Kingdom
5.7%
Switzerland
4.0%
United States
3.4%
Netherlands
2.7%
China**
2.7%
Mexico
2.2%
Turkey
1.9%
* Provisional data for the province of Barcelona
* Includes China, Hong Kong and Macau
Source: Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism
Distribution of exports of the province of Barcelona by
technological content, 2017 (%)*
* Provincial data
Source: Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism data
EXPORTS
Exports (in millions of euros)
2016 2017* % OF SPAIN 2017
Barcelona
51,189.5 54,771.6
Catalonia
65,142.1 70,828.7
Spain
256,393.4 277,125.7
* Provisional data for the province of Barcelona
Source: Datainvex, Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism
Evolution of exports from the province of Barcelona,
1997 - 2017 (in millions of euros)
1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017*
* Provisional data
Source: Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism
DRIVING FORCE OF A LARGE DIVERSIFIED ECONOMIC AREA
High
technology
11.4%
Medium-high
technological
level
48.9%
Medium-low
technological
level
16.6%
Low
technological
level
22.5%
Not classified
0.6%
19.8%
25.6%
54,771.6
13. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
14
A territory with a powerful industrial base
• In 2017,industry generated 21.4% of the Gross Added
Value in Catalonia,a weight that exceeds that reached
by the European Union (19.6%) and,more clearly,by
Spain (18.1%),being the autonomous community with
the highest industrial development in the Spanish State.
• In 2017,Catalonia was ranked as the fourth European
region for jobs in manufacturing that involve medium-
high to high technology intensity,with 230,000 people
working in these activities,exceeding the records of
regions such as Piemont (Turin),Rhône-Alpes (Lyon)
and Darmstadt (Frankfurt).In the same year,it was also
ranked the fourth region in the continent for female
employment in these activities.
• Barcelona has an important industrial sector and
the metropolitan area - with 14% of the working
population employed in industry- is home to more
than half (60%) of this employment in Catalonia. Key
areas include the chemicals and pharmaceutical
clusters, the automobile cluster - one of the main
producers in Europe -, food production, paper and
graphic arts, and waste treatment.
• Barcelona and its area are working to develop industry
4.0 using elements such as the Big Data impetus,
the rising number of companies and organisations in
initiatives related to 3D printing and the work of Fab
Labs to introduce digital manufacturing to schools,
companies,entrepreneurs and community projects.
In 2017,the Barcelona Metropolitan Area had over
400,000 jobs in activities potentially associated
with industry 4.0,after creating more than 27,000
jobs in these areas since 2010,which represents an
accumulated percentage increase of +7,3%.
Commitment to digital technology and ICTs
• The city, with over 54,000 jobs and more than 2,700
companies with staff working in ICTs, is the heart of
the sector in Catalonia. 55% of employment in the
territory and 45.9% of its business community is
concentrated in the city. It is estimated that in 2017
the information and communications sector, which
encompasses ICTs, generated 8.1% of Gross Added
Value in Barcelona.
• According to the Networked Society City Index 2016
report, Barcelona is ranked amongst the fifteen top
cities in the world in terms of its levels of digital
equipment, technological maturity, social cohesion
and institutions focused on the goal of sustainable
development.
Towards the transformation of the
productive model
• The city of Barcelona is advancing towards a plural,
innovative and socially inclusive economic model,
based on sustainability in all aspects:economic,
social and environmental.With this goal in mind,and
the leadership of Barcelona Activa,the strategy for
economic promotion during the 2016-2019 term of
office prioritises the impetus of seven strategic sectors
which form the backbone of the entire municipal policy
and the transformation of the productive model:
Diversified
economic activity
Industry
accounts for
of total GVA
in Catalonia
21.4%
14. 15
the manufacturing industry, the digital economy,
creative sectors, the green and circular economy,
mobility, health and bio and, as an element that cuts
across them all, the social and solidarity economy.
• The city is working towards an economic model that is
efficient in the use of its resources and with
innovation capacity based on the promotion of
the green and circular economy, which in 2017
represented 3.5% of employment and experienced
growth in the number of jobs (approximately +4%)
that was higher than in the city’s overall economy
(+2,5%).
• In the fourth quarter of 2017 there were over 90,000
jobs and 3,090 companies with employees in the
health and bio sector in Barcelona, representing 8.5%
and 4.1%, respectively, of the city’s total.This sector
features various different, yet related components:
75% of jobs in the sector are concentrated in health
activities, while those linked to health-related social
services account for 15.7% of employment and the
pharmaceutical industry is close to 10%.
• The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry
constitutes a dynamic cluster with a remarkable
capacity for research and innovation. Catalonia
holds 27% of the biotech companies in Spain, leads
in investment in biotechnology R&D and has 15
university hospitals, 9 research institutes and 6,000
researchers in this field.
• Barcelona has a strong presence in the social and
solidarity economy - with people and groups at the
centre of the activity -, which include the Third Social
Sector (50.9%), workers’ owned companies (25.4%),
cooperatives (18.2%) and community economies
(5.5%) offering a great capacity for social innovation.
• Since 2014, 193 cooperatives have been set up in
Barcelona, 80.3% of which are workers’ cooperatives
and 63.2% of which were created in the past two years
(2016 and 2017). On the other hand, the third social
sector had 30,000 labour contracts in 2016 and the
presence of these entities should be highlighted in
the areas of social action aimed at children, teenagers
and families, as well as care for people with mental
and learning disabilities - which represent 41% and
18% of the total, respectively. Furthermore, the city
has 48 special employment centres and 20 social
recruitment companies which enable the social and
labour market integration of people with specific
needs.
Barcelona is committed to local and quality
commerce
• With 16,164 companies and 151,368 jobs, commerce
is one of the areas with most weight within the
economic structure of Barcelona. Indeed, the sector
accounted for 21.4% of companies and 14.4% of
employment in the city at the end of 2017.The number
of establishments in the retail and restaurant sectors
was 35,834 in 2016, which represents 17.3% of the
total in the city.
• The municipal markets, with a surface area of
260,941 m2
and 2,312 stalls, are one of the
benchmarks of the Barcelona trade model due to
their economic and social significance in the city’s
neighbourhoods, and they represent the largest
network of food markets on the continent of Europe.
International reference for urban tourism
and the organisation of congresses
• In Barcelona, tourism in hotels reached 7.7 million
visitors, while overnight stays were at 19.7 million in
2017, with year-on-year variations of 2.5% and 0.7%,
respectively, compared with 2016.
• Various rankings underscore the attractiveness of
Barcelona for foreign visitors:The European Cities
Marketing Benchmarking Report 2016/2017 ranks
Barcelona in fifth position in Europe for international
overnight stays,while Trip Advisor ranked it as the sixth
most attractive worldwide for tourists in 2017.Finally,
according to the Top Cities Destination Ranking report
from Euromonitor International,in 2017 Barcelona was
the 23rd most visited city by international tourists out
of 100 cities across the world,and the 6th
most visited
among European cities.
• With regard to business tourism, according to the
International Congress and Convention Association
(ICCA), in 2017 Barcelona was the top city worldwide
for the number of international meetings organised
for the first time in its history and also the top city
for the number of participants in these meetings.
According to the Barcelona Convention Bureau,
Barcelona hosted 2,134 meetings in 2017, with an
economic impact estimated at 1,851 million in the city.
• In 2017, with 2.7 million cruise ship passengers,
Barcelona held onto its position as the top base port
in Europe and in the Mediterranean for cruise ships,
and it is the fourth most important base port in the
world.
DIVERSIFIED ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
15. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
16
MANUFACTURING AND 4.0 INDUSTRY
GVA industrial weight, 2017
20
15
10
5
0
Catalonia Spain EU
Source: Idescat
People employed in high-tech industries in European
Regions, 2017
REGION (CITY) % PEOPLE EMPLOYED
OF TOTAL
EMPLOYED WOMEN
(THOUSANDS)
TOTAL PEOPLE
EMPLOYED
(THOUSANDS)
Stuttgart (Stuttgart) 19.8 96 435
Lombardy (Milan) 9.4 109 411
Upper Baviera (Munich) 12.4 76 316
Catalonia (Barcelona) 7.0 74 230
Karlsruhe (Karlsruhe) 14.4 46 207
Istanbul (Istanbul) 3.7 43 207
Piemont (Turin) 10.5 46 190
Emilia-Romagna (Bologna) 9.3 41 183
Dusseldorf (Dusseldorf) 7.2 42 180
Rhône-Alpes (Lyon) 6.1 53 174
Darmstadt (Frankfurt) 8.1 41 164
Île-de-France (Paris) 3.0 45 160
Cologne (Cologne) 7.1 35 156
Source: Eurostat
Main industrial sectors for jobs* in Catalonia and the
Metropolitan Area , 2017**
Metallurgy and
machinery production
and electrical and
electronic equipment
129,606
81,334
Chemical and
pharmaceutical industry
92,775
64,696
Transport material and
metal products
44,553
33,765
Food
84,189
26,955
Paper and printing
40,525
23,915
Textiles, clothes
manufacturing, leather
and footwear
34,893
22,777
Catalonia Metropolitan Region
* Afiliates registered with the general Social Security system, including Self-employed Workers
** 4th Q
Source: Produced by the Economic Policy and Local Development Research Department at
Barcelona City Council, based on data from Barcelona City Council Statistics Department.
Jobs* potentially associated with industry 4.0 in the
Barcelona Metropolitan Region
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
* Affiliates in the General and Self-Employed Social Security Schemes
Source:Economic Policy and Local Development Research Department based on data from the
Department of Statistics, Barcelona City Council
Areas of development of the new industry
Source: AMB
Eix
Llobregat
Corredor
B-30
Besòs
Delta del
Llobregat
21.4%
18.1%
19.6%
366,900
402.746
16. 17
ICT SECTOR / INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
Connected and cohesive cities for sustainable
development, 2016
CITY WORLD RANKING 2014 WORLD RANKING 2016
Stockholm 1 1
London 2 2
Singapore 4 3
Paris 3 4
Copenhagen 5 5
Helsinki 6 6
New York 7 7
Oslo 8 8
Tokyo 10 9
Seoul 12 10
Taipei 13 11
Los Angeles 11 12
Barcelona 18 13
Hong Kong 9 14
Berlin 16 15
Munich 14 16
Miami 15 17
Warsaw 20 18
Rome 21 19
Sydney 19 20
Moscow 17 21
Istanbul 27 22
Abu Dhabi 23 23
Athens 24 24
São Paulo 25 25
Source: Networked Society City Index 2016, Ericsson AB
Jobs* in ICT activities in Barcelona
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
* Those registered with the general Social Security system, including Self-employed Workers
Source:Produced by by the Economic Policy and Local Development Research Department,
based on data from the Department of Statistics at Barcelona City Council
Evolution 2011-2017 of jobs* and companies in
Barcelona
2011 2017 VARIATIONS
FOR 17/11
ICT jobs
Total jobs in
Barcelona
ICT companies
Total Companies
in Barcelona
* Those registered with the general Social Security system, including Self-employed Workers
(jobs) and companies that charge Social Security contributions
Source:Produced by the Economic Policy and Local Development Research Department, based
on data from the Department of Statistics at Barcelona City Council
DIVERSIFIED ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
in the ICT sector
54,000 jobs
More than
an increase
of 35.9%
compared to
2011
38,388
54,039
+42.0%
+4.7%
+9.2%
+35.9%
39,767
54,039
1,054,722
2,766
75,37272,013
965,810
1,948
17. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
18
GREEN AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Workers* and companies in the green economy** in
Barcelona, 2017***
MINIMUM VALUE MAXIMUM VALUE
Number of workers 28,014 40,302
Weight/overallemploymentinthecity(%) 2.6% 3.7%
Number of companies 858 2,072
Weight / total companies in the city (%) 1.1% 2.8%
* Those registered with the general Social Security system, including self-employed workers
** This includes the activities of the traditional environmental core - water, waste, green
energy - and administrative, education, ICT and R&D activities related to them. The minimum
and maximum value are estimated using international research criteria
*** 4th quarter data
Source: Produced by the Economic Policy and Local Development Research Department
at Barcelona City Council, based on data from the Employment and Productive Model
Observatory of the Generalitat (regional government) of Catalonia
HEALTH AND BIOTECH
Jobs* and companies in the Health and biotech sector in
Barcelona,by divisions, 2017 (%)
Jobs
Companies
* Those registered with the general Social Security system, including Self-employed Workers
Source: Produced by the Economic Policy and Local Development Research Department,
based on data from the Department of Statistics at Barcelona City Council
SOCIAL AND SOLIDARITY ECONOMY
Companies,associations and initiatives from the social
and solidarity economy in Barcelona ,2015 (% of total)
Source: Barcelona City Council (2015), Social and Solidarity Economy in Barcelona
Number of cooperatives set up in Barcelona,
2014-2017
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2014 2015 2016 2017
Consumers and Users
Secondary Cooperative
Dwellings
Mixed
Mixed consumers and users
of associated workers’
cooperatives
Services
Worker
Source: Department of Statistics of Barcelona City Council
Third social
sector
50.9%
Social
services
associated
with health
15.7%
Social
services
associated
with health
10.6%
Cooperatives
18.2%
Pharmaceutical
industry
9.6%
Pharmaceutical
industry
2.3%
Health care
74.7%
Health care
87.2%
Workers
Owned
Companies
25.4%
Community
economies
5.5%
41
31
61 61
In 2016 and
2017 the creation
of co-operatives
doubles that of
2015
18. 19
Trends in internet purchases in Barcelona, 2000-2017
(Consumers %)
Source. Barcelona City Council, Municipal Omnibus Survey, Department of Commerce and
Consumer Affairs
RETAIL AND COMMERCE
Retail establishments in Barcelona
Retail establishments 2017
16,164
Number of companies
151,368
Jobs
35,834
Retail and restaurant
establishments (2016)
Municipal markets 2017
40
Food
4
Special
2,312
Number of stalls
260,941 m2
Total surface area
Source: Department of Statistics and Municipal Markets Institute of Barcelona City Council
Retail establishments in Barcelona by districts, 2016
905 5,461
Source: Inventory of premises in Barcelona
61,7
5,9
Ciutat Vella
3,150
Horta-Guinardó
1,435
Les Corts
905
Sants-Montjuïc
1,838
Eixample
5,461
Sarrià-Sant
Gervasi
2,184
Gràcia
2,147
Sant Martí
2,423
Sant Andreu
1,564
Nou Barris
1,640
2000 2003 2006 2009 2012 2015 2017
DIVERSIFIED ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
The biggest food
market network
in the European
continent
19. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
20
TOURISM
Tourists and overnight stays in Barcelona
2016 2017 VARIATION 2016/17
Tourists*
7,484,276 7,675,002
Overnight stays
19,590,245 19,724,164
* Tourists staying in hotel establishments
Source: Department of Statistics of Barcelona City Council
Hotel indicators
2016 2017 VARIATION 2016/17
Establishments
639 650
Places (beds)
75,681 79,288
Source: Department of Statistics of Barcelona City Council
Country of origin of tourists, 2017 (%)
Source: Department of Statistics of Barcelona City Council
CONGRESS ACTIVITY
Indicators of congress activity, 2017
2,124
Total meetings
674,890
Total delegates
551
Congresses, conferences
and courses
1,573
Conventions and
incentives
Source:Barcelona Tourist Consortium and Department of Statistics of Barcelona City Counci
Main cities in the world for number of international
congresses and delegates, 2017
CITIES CONGRESSES DELEGATES CITIES
Barcelona 195 148,624 Barcelona
Paris 190 113,624 Vienna
Vienna 190 111,725 Paris
Berlin 185 110,438 Madrid
London 177 110,438 Prague
Singapore 160 97,549 Berlin
Madrid 153 83,762 Singapore
Prague 151 78,811 London
Lisbon 149 76,549 Lisbon
Seoul 142 75,578 Amsterdam
Source: International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA)
Main trade fairs of Fira de Barcelona that are benchmarks
in Europe,2018
Automobile Motorshow 3Rd. Expoquimia-Equiplast-Eurosurfas
Mobile World Congress BB Construmat
Bcn Games World (OP) Motoh!
Sonar (day / night) Esc Congress - Cardiologia
Manga Fair Smart-City Expo World Congress
Education Fair 4YFN - Four Years From Now
Barcelona International Comic Fair Barcelona International Boat Show
Expo Sports
Source: Fira de Barcelona. Fairs with highest number of visitors
Spain
20.2%
United Kingdom
8.6%
United States
9.5%
France
8.0%
Italy
6.0%
Germany
5.5%
+2,5%
+0,7%
+1,7%
+4,8%
city in the world
in number of
international
congresses and
participants
1st
20. 21
DIGITAL CITY, CREATIVITY, RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
Digital city,
creativity,
research and
innovation
Barcelona leads Spain’s advance towards a
knowledge economy
• Barcelona seeks to become a point of reference in
the field of technology to improve the quality of life in
a global context in which mobile technology is a key
vector for the growth of the economy as a whole. In this
context, the role of Barcelona as Mobile World Capital,
hosting the Mobile World Congress and the industrial
legacy project - present a strategic opportunity to
position the city in this sector of activity.
• Nowadays,Barcelona offers one of the most dynamic
ecosystems for digital entrepreneurship and according
to the Innovation Cities Index 2018 is the 8th
more
innovative city in Europe and the 30th
in the word.
• Similarly, the British consultancy Atomico ranks it as
the 3rd
favourite European city for establishing
start-ups, after London and Berlin, and the fourth for
the volume of investment received for start-ups in 2017
(The State of European Tech 2017).
• As regards the distribution of the investment in
start-ups by sector in Barcelona, most notable is the
capital invested in the mobile sector (55% of the total),
followed by electronic commerce (25%) and those of a
social nature (10%).
• In 2017, the area of Barcelona generated 13.9% of
the applications for utility models and 13.2% of the
patents in the Spanish State as a whole. Catalonia
is the region with the highest number of innovative
companies in Spain (23%) and 24.3% of the State’s
total expenditure in innovative activities.
• Barcelona was ranked fifth in Europe and 18th
worldwide in scientific production in 2017, according
to data prepared by the Polytechnic University of
Catalonia using the Science Citation Index.
• The expenditure in R+D in Catalonia was 1.46% of GDP in
2016,lower than the average in the European Union but
higher than that of Spain and regions such as Lombardy
and London.There are 46,592 members of staff dedicated
to research and development in the Principality.
• Creative activities brought Barcelona over 130,000
jobs in 2017, representing 12.3% of employment in
the city and half (49.6%) of creative jobs in Catalonia.
It should be pointed out that, according to the latest
research, a higher percentage of employees in creative
industries is very intensely correlated to a higher level
of production per inhabitant.
• The Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor 2017 from the
European Commission ranks Barcelona as the ninth
large city in terms of vitality and creativity.
2nd
European
city according to
the Digital Citiy
Index 2017
(Bloom Consulting)
for establishing
start-ups
(Atomico)
3rd
European hub preferred
21. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
22
BUSINESS INNOVATION AND RESEARCH
Companies and innovation
NUMBER OF INNOVATIVE
COMPANIES
TOTAL EXPENDITURE
IN INNOVATIVE ACTIVITIES
2016 % OF SPAIN 2016 (1,000S €) % OF SPAIN
Catalonia 3,602 23.0 3,367,177 24.3
Spain 15,648 100.0 13,857,481 100.0
Source: Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE)
Innovation indicators
PATENT APPLICATIONS UTILITY MODEL APPLICATIONS
2017 % OF SPAIN 2017 % OF SPAIN
Barcelona* 302 13.2 338 13.9
Catalonia 354 15.5 447 18.3
Spain 2,286 100.0 2,438 100.0
* Provincial data
Source: Spanish Office of Patents and Brands
Innovation in cities around the world. Position
of Barcelona
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2012/13 2014 2015 2016/17 2018
European ranking World ranking
Source: 2thinknow Innovation Cities™ Index
European city in
terms of scientific
production
5th
27
8
25
13
5
56 56
27
13
30
22. 23
DIGITAL CITY, CREATIVITY, RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM
The 10 preferred European cities for locating a start-up
RANKING 2017 CITY
1 London
2 Berlin
3 Barcelona
4 Paris
5 Amsterdam
6 Dublin
7 Stockholm
8 Lisbon
9 Munich
10 Milan
Source: Atomico. The State of European Tech 2017
Capital invested in start-ups by sector in Barcelona,
2018 (%)
Source: Start up Ecosystem Overview, 2018. Mobile World Capital Barcelona
Expenditure on R&D (% of GDP)
Berlin
3.53%
United States
2.79%
Rhône-Alpes**
2.76%
China
2.07%
Catalonia*
1.46%
EuropeanUnion
1.38%
Lombardy
1.27%
Spain*
1.19%
London
1.08%
* Data for 2016
** Data for 2014
Source: INE, Eurostat and OECD
International benchmark science and technology
facilities in Barcelona
"Barcelona Supercomputing Centre - Centro Nacional de Supercomputación
(BSC-CNS)
Maritime Research and Experimentation Wave Flume (CIEM)
Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO)
Barcelona Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Laboratory (LRB)
White Room of the Barcelona Microelectronics Institute (IMB-CNM)
ALBA Synchrotron - Cells
National Centre for Genomic Analysis (CNAG)
Source: Ministry of Education and Science, Map of Unique Scientific and Technical
Infrastructures
Top cities of the world in terms of academic scientific
production,2017
WORLD
RANKING
EUROPEAN
RANKING
CITY PUBLICATIONS
2017*
1 Beijing 84,538
2 1 London 45,602
3 Shanghai 41,901
4 New York 36,984
5 Boston 35,885
6 Seoul 34,699
7 Tokyo 33,623
8 2 Paris 33,373
9 3 Madrid 20,652
10 4 Moscow 19,765
11 Chicago 19,457
12 Baltimore 19,451
13 Philadelphia 18,873
14 Cambridge (USA) 18,838
15 Houston 18,790
16 Toronto 18,465
17 Los Angeles 18,325
18 5 Barcelona 18,167
19 São Paulo 17,706
20 Melbourne 17,312
21 6 Rome 16,927
22 7 Milan 16,020
23 Singapore 15,646
24 8 Berlin 15,365
25 Hong Kong 15,231
* Provisional data September 2018
Source: Polytechnic University of Catalonia-Centre of Land Policy and Valuations,
http://www-cpsv.upc.es/KnowledgeCitiesRanking
E-commerce
25%
Mobile
55%
Social
10%
Business
3%
Health and
science
3%
Media
1%
Other
3%
23. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
24
CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
Employment in creative activities* in Barcelona, 2017
2017 WEIGHT BCN/CATALONIA
Activities connected to heritage 3,349 73.5%
Architecture and engineering 16,384 38.2%
Graphic art and printing 3,630 18.3%
Cinema, video and music 3,804 78.3%
Design and photography 16,855 54.2%
Published by 8,604 68.5%
Writers, performing and visual arts,
and artisans
7,208 52.2%
Fashion 2,046 12.3%
Radio and television 1,049 21.8%
Traditional creative (cultural)
industries
62,929 41.7%
Creative research and development 10,630 48.5%
Advertising 15,605 60.2%
Software, video games and
electronic publishing
40,834 64.6%
Non-traditional creative industries 67,069 60.4%
TOTAL creative industries 129,998 49.6%
% Creative ind. of the total in
Barcelona
12.3%
* Those registered with the general Social Security system, including Self-employed Workers
in the fourth quarter of the year
Source: Produced by the Economic Policy and Local Development Research Department
at Barcelona City Council, based on data from the Employment and Productive Model
Observatory of the Generalitat (regional government) of Catalonia
of the city's
employment
Creative industries
account for
12.3%
major European
city in terms
of creative
intensity
9th
24. 25
Talent
generation and
pole of attraction
Barcelona’s labour market has a critical
mass and qualified human capital
• There are 1.1 million jobs in the city and 2.5 million
in the area of Barcelona.The rates of activity (80.2%)
and employment (72.1%) in Barcelona are higher than
the Catalan, Spanish and European averages.
• More than half of the jobs in Barcelona (54.1%)
correspond to knowledge-intensive activities, and
the city is the centre of this economic segment in
Catalonia, as 42.7% of the high-knowledge jobs are
to be found here, while the weight of Barcelona as a
percentage of the employed population of Catalonia is
35.5%.
• Barcelona has a labour market with critical mass in
the sectors with high added value:In 2017, Catalonia
came fourth in the ranking of European regions with
the most people working in high-tech industries, fifth
in terms of people working in science and technology
- with more than 780,000 jobs in this area -,
and sixth in knowledge-intensive high-technology
services.
• The salary level in Barcelona is at the medium-low end
of salaries in more developed cities and, according
to the Union of Swiss Banks, the average net salary
represented 49.6% of that of New York in 2018.
• According to Decoding Global Talent 2018, Barcelona
is the fourth most attractive city to work in globally,
just behind London, New York and Berlin, and it has
climbed 3 positions compared with 2014.
• Catalonia has 12 universities with nearly 250,000
students, and the metropolitan area accounts for
82.4% of all students in its eight universities in
the public and private sectors.The Barcelona area
Universities have more than 50,000 students following
Masters and PhD programmes during the academic
year 2016/2017.
• In 2017, more than half (51.1%) of female workers
and 45.8% of the people working in Catalonia had
a tertiary education, values clearly higher than the
European and Spanish average.
• In terms of education, it should be pointed out that
Barcelona is the only city with two educational
institutions among the five best business schools
in Europe, as IESE and ESADE are ranked in 3rd and
5th
positions in Europe, and in 11th
and 20th
positions
worldwide, respectively, in the Global MBA 2018
ranking published by the Financial Times.
TALENT GENERATION AND POLE OF ATTRACTION
in Greater Barcelona
2.5 M jobs
4th
most
attractive city
to work in
globally
25. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
26
JOBS IN BARCELONA
Employed workers registered with social security, 2017*
TOTAL % OF SPAIN
Barcelona 1,087,344 5.9
Barcelona province 2,498,037 13.6
Catalonia 3,270,659 17.8
Spain 18,331,107 100.0
* Data from the 4th quarter
Source: Department of Statistics of Barcelona City Council and INSS (National Institute of
Social Security)
% Workers with university studies, 2017*
WOMEN TOTAL
Catalonia 51.1% 45.8%
Spain 48.9% 43.2%
European Union 40.1% 36.1%
* % of the population between 25 and 64 years of age with university qualification
Source: Eurostat
Employees* according to knowledge intensity of the
activity in Barcelona, 2017** (% of total)
Barcelona
* Those registered with the general Social Security system
** Data from the 4th quarter
Source: Produced by the Economic Policy and Local Development Research Department
at Barcelona City Council, based on data from the Employment and Productive Model
Observatory of the Generalitat (regional government) of Catalonia
LABOUR MARKET PARTICIPATION
Participation in the job market, 2017*
(% population 16-64 years of age)
Activity rate Employment rate Unemployment rate
Barcelona Catalonia Spain European Union
* Data from the 4th quarter
Source: Labour Force Survey and Eurostat
SALARIES
Salary levels in cities around the world, 2018
GROSS SALARY (NEW YORK - 100) CITY NET SALARY (NEW YORK - 100)
129.8 Zurich 153.8
131.5 Geneva 133.1
89.6 Chicago 94.9
101.3 Copenhagen 92.3
86.3 Munich 87.0
79.2 Tokyo 85.3
77.3 Berlin 79.0
68.5 London 76.0
80.9 Montreal 73.5
60.3 Hong Kong 72.4
68.6 Paris 69.4
66.5 Lyon 67.0
73.9 Amsterdam 64.2
65.2 Milan 59.5
58.3 Madrid 50.0
58.4 Barcelona 49.6
30.0 Athens 28.1
Source: UBS. Prices and Earnings 2018
UNIVERSITIES AND BUSINESS SCHOOLS
Training and universities, 2016-2017
Total number of university students in Catalonia* 248,173
Total number of university students in the Area of Barcelona* 203,422
Number of Masters offered by Universities in the Area of
Barcelona
485
Number of Master's and PhD students in Universities in
the area of Barcelona
50,104
Foreign students in universities in the area of Barcelona
-degree, Master’s and PhD programmes-
23,662
* Includes bachelor’s degree and master’s students
Source: Area of Support for Planning, Analysis and Evaluation in the Area of Universities and
Research. Secretary of Universities and Research.Ministry of Economy and Knowledge at the
Government of Catalonia and Department of Statistics at Barcelona City Council
Best European business schools, 2018
EUROPEAN
RANKING
WORLD
RANKING
BUSINESS SCHOOL CITY
1 2 Insead Fontainebleau
2 4 London Business School London
3 11 IESE Business School Barcelona
4 13 University of Cambridge:Judge Cambridge
5 20 ESADE Business School Barcelona
6 21 HEC Paris Paris
7 24 IMD Lausanne
8 27 University of Oxford:Saïd Oxford
9 29 SDA Bocconi Milan
10 36 Alliance Manchester Business School Manchester
Source: Financial Times, Global MBA Ranking 2018
High-
technology
industrial
sectors
1.0%
Knowledge-
intensive
services
50.0%
Medium-high
technology
industrial
sectors
3.1%
Other
employees
45.9%
80.8 78.5 75.1 73.5 72.1 68.6
62.6
68.1
10.0 12.7
16.7
7.3
26. 27
Entrepreneurial
city with
competitive costs
Barcelona has dynamic and flexible
business activity
• The area of Barcelona is the headquarters for
460,778 companies, 14% of those in Spain.They are
mainly SMEs and micro-companies, characterised
by higher flexibility and capacity to adapt to
complex environments. Almost 40% of the business
headquarters of the province are in the city.
• The entrepreneurial activity rate (18-64 years) of the
resident population in the province of Barcelona was
8.5% in 2017, so it exceeds that of Germany (5.3%),
Italy (4.3%) and France (3.9%) and the Spanish
average (6.2%), with the highest value since 2007.
Barcelona has a competitive property offer
for businesses
• In relation to the cost of living, Barcelona is ranked in
79th
position among the cities analysed in the annual
study of Mercer Consulting (which takes New York
as a reference) and it maintains competitive prices
in comparison with other cities in the world, despite
having climbed positions compared with the previous
year due to the appreciation of the euro.
• Barcelona continues to hold a competitive position
as regards rental prices of industrial land, offices
and commercial premises, which makes Barcelona
attractive for doing business for both new companies
starting up and companies that have already been
established.The evolution of the rental prices
of commercial premises, offices and industrial
warehouse in the past three years shows an upward
trend, which reflects the improvement in the economic
situation, the strength of demand and the growing
attraction of the city to global markets.
ENTREPRENEURIAL CITY WITH COMPETITIVE COSTS
460,000
More than
companies in the
Barcelona area
14%
of the Spanish
total
27. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
28
COMPANIES
Companies by number of employees, 2017
Barcelona
58.9%
Without
employees
36.1%
1 - 9
employees
4.8%
10 - 199
employees
0.3%
Over199
employees
Source: Department of Statistics of Barcelona City Council
Barcelona province
58.5%
Without
employees
36.5%
1 - 9
employees
4.8%
10 - 199
employees
0.2%
Over199
employees
Spurce: INE, Central Business Directory (DIRCE)
Business headquarters, 2017*
% OF SPAIN
Barcelona
178.607
Barcelona province
460,778
Catalonia
608,891
Spain
3,282,346
* January data
Source: INE, Central Business Directory (DIRCE)
BUSINESS CREATION
Entrepreneurial activity in European countries,
2017 (% of population 18-64 years of age)
Estonia
19.4
Latvia
14.1
Slovakia
11.8
Netherlands
9.9
Poland
8.9
Croatia
8.9
Ireland
8.9
Switzerland
8.5
Barcelona*
8.5
United Kingdom
8.4
Catalonia
8.0
EU Average
7.9
Sweden
7.3
Slovenia
6.8
Spain
6.2
Germany
5.3
Greece
4.8
Italy
4.3
France
3.9
Bulgaria
3.7
* Provincial data
Source: Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), Executive brief for Catalonia 2017-18
5.4%
14.0%
18.6%
8.5%
entrepreneurial
activity rate.
The highest value in
the last 10 years
28. 29
OFFICES AND INDUSTRIAL LAND MARKET
Offices market, 2017*
5,888,000 m2
Total office stock
432,000 m2
Available offices offer
7.34%
Availability rate
* 4th quarter data
Source: Marketbeat, Cushman and Wakefield
Office rental price, 2017* (€/m2
/month)
Periphery (Sabadell,St.
Cugat,Esplugues,etc.)
11
New business areas
20.25
Business district
(consolidated centre)
19.25
First line
(Pg. Gràcia-Diagonal)
23.25
* 4th quarter data
Source: On point, Jones Lang Lasalle
Office rental price in European cities, 2018*
CITY VAR. YEAR-ON-YEAR
1ST Q. 2018/2017 (%)
OFFICE RENTAL 2018
(€/M2/YEAR)
London 0.0 1.351
Paris -0.7 760
Stockholm 12.5 699
Dublin 0.0 646
Moscow 0.0 610
Milan 10.6 575
Luxembourg 4.4 564
Frankfurt 2.7 456
Munich 4.2 444
Amsterdam 8.1 400
Berlin 10.7 372
Dusseldorf 1.9 324
Brussels 14.5 315
Barcelona 9.1 288
Warsaw -2.1 276
* 1st quarter data
Source: EMEA Offices Interface IT 2018 (Europe). Jones Lang Lasalle
Average price of housing in Barcelona, 2018*
907.4 (€/month)
Rent*
3,707.0 (€/m2
)
Sale of second-hand
housing
4,231.1 (€/m2
)
Sale of new housing*
* Housing sale prices refer to the 1st quarter, and rents to the 2nd quarter
Source: Barcelona City Counci
COST OF LIVING AND OTHER COSTS
Cost of living of cities in the world, 2018
CITY RANKING 2017 RANKING 2018
Hong Kong 2 1
Tokyo 3 2
Zurich 4 3
Singapore 5 4
Seoul 6 5
Luanda 1 6
Shanghai 8 7
N'Djamena 15 8
Beijing 11 9
Bern 10 10
Barcelona 121 79
Source:Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Cost of Living City Ranking 2018
Rental price of premium logistics land in cities around
the world, 2018*
RANKING CITY COUNTRY RENT LOGISTICS LAND
($/M2/YEAR)
1 Hong Kong Hong Kong 333.57
2 London United Kingdom 240.57
3 Tokyo Japan 214.85
4 Shanghai China 113.13
5 Stockholm Sweden 110.76
6 Singapore Singapore 109.36
7 Oakland United States 107.21
8 Beijing China 105.27
9 Munich Germany 103.55
10 Sydney Australia 103.44
11 Midlands United Kingdom 101.83
12 Manchester/Liverpool United Kingdom 101.83
13 Barcelona Spain 99.89
14 Auckland New Zealand 99.14
15 Shenzhen China 97.74
16 Los Angeles/Orange County United States 95.58
17 Frankfurt Germany 93.22
18 Seoul South Korea 92.78
19 Leeds/Sheffield United Kingdom 90.52
20 New Jersey United States 88.91
* 1st quarter data
Source: 2018 Global Industrial and Logistics Prime Rents, CBRE Research.
ENTREPRENEURIAL CITY WITH COMPETITIVE COSTS
29. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
30
13th
safest world city
(The Economist)
Compact city
with social
cohesion
Barcelona continues its efforts to reduce
inequalities
• In 2016, Barcelona had a Disposable Household
Income per capita estimated at €20,800.The
recession widened the territorial inequalities, and the
value of the disposable household income per capita
per district ranges between the index182.4 for Sarrià-
Sant Gervasi and 55.0 for Nou Barris (100 being the
average value for the city).
• Following the unfavourable evolution of living
conditions and rising inequality in recent years,
the poverty risk or social exclusion rate (AROPE)
of Catalonia was 19.4% in 2017, and is below the
Spanish rate (26.6 %) and the EU-28 rate (23.5%).
• Barcelona is among the safest cities in the world
according to The Safe Cities Index 2017 prepared
by The Economist, which assesses urban safety in
the digital era.To be specific, the Catalan capital is
ranked 13th
in the global ranking of 60 cities – topped
by Tokyo - and it is ranked 6th
among European
cities, ahead of Brussels, London and Paris. It should
be noted that Barcelona is ranked 3rd in terms of
infrastructure safety, an area in which the city climbed
11 positions compared with the ranking of 2015 and
which takes into account aspects like investment and
management of the city’s infrastructure.
30. 31
DISPOSABLE GROSS HOUSEHOLD INCOME BY DISTRICT
Disposable Household Income per capita in the districts
of Barcelona, 2016 (Index. 100 average for Barcelona)
55 182
Source:Technical Programming Office at Barcelona City Council
FOREIGN-RESIDENT POPULATION BY DISTRICT
Foreign population in the districts of Barcelona, 2018
(% of total population)
12% 46%
Source: Produced by the Department of Studies at the Manager’s Office for Economic Policy
and Local Development, based on data from the Department of Statistics at Barcelona City
Council.
POPULATION AT RISK OF POVERTY
Population at risk of poverty or social exclusion, 2017
COUNTRY REGION (PRINCIPAL CITY) AROPE RATE (%)
Czech Republic Prague (Prague) 9.4
Finland Helsinki-Uusimaa (Helsinki) 11.8
Slovakia Bratislavsk_ kraj (Bratislava)* 13.8
Sweden Stockholm (Stockholm) 14.4
Poland Centralny region (Warsaw) 15,5
Norway Oslo og Akershus (Oslo) 16.1
Germany Baviera (Munich) 16.2
Netherlands Netherlands - West (Amsterdam) 18,0
Denmark Hovedstaden (Copenhagen) 18.4
Spain Catalonia (Barcelona) 19.4
Italy Lombardy (Milan)* 19.7
Switzerland Mittelland space (Bern)* 20.6
Spain Community of Madrid (Madrid) 20.6
Ireland Ireland - south and east (Dublin)* 22.7
EU28 average* 23.5
Germany Berlin (Berlin)* 24.8
Romania Bucuresti - Ilfov (Bucharest) 25.1
Austria Vienna (Vienna)* 26.0
Spain 26.6
Italy Lazio (Rome) 28,9
Bulgaria Bulgaria - south-west (Sofia) 29.3
Greece Attica (Athens) 31.1
* Data from 2016
Note:The‘At Risk of Poverty or Social Exclusion’rate (AROPE) indicates the percentage of the
population that is,at a minimum,in one of the following circumstances:at risk of poverty,severe
material deprivation or living in households with very low labour intensity.
Source: Eurostat
COMPACT CITY WITH SOCIAL COHESION
Ciutat Vella
86.9
Horta-Guinardó
79.2
Les Corts
136.0
Sants-Montjuïc
79.1
Eixample
119.3
Sarrià-Sant
Gervasi
182.4
Gràcia
105.4
Sant Martí
87.1
Sant Andreu
74.5
Nou Barris
55.0
Ciutat Vella
46.3%
Horta-Guinardó
13.4%
Les Corts
12.6%
Sants-Montjuïc
20.3%
Eixample
21.1%
Sarrià-Sant
Gervasi
12.4%
Gràcia
17.0%
Sant Martí
17.4%
Sant Andreu
12.6%
Nou Barris
17.0%
31. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
32
SAFE CITY
Safety in cities in the world, 2017
POSITION CITY INDEX 100
1 Tokyo 89.80
2 Singapore 89.64
3 Osaka 88.87
4 Toronto 87.36
5 Melbourne 87.30
6 Amsterdam 87.26
7 Sydney 86.74
8 Stockholm 86.72
9 Hong Kong 86.22
10 Zurich 85.20
11 Frankfurt 84.86
12 Madrid 83.88
13 Barcelona 83.71
14 Seoul 83.61
15 San Francisco 83.55
16 Wellington 83.18
17 Brussels 83.01
18 Los Angeles 82.26
19 Chicago 82.21
20 London 82.10
21 New York 81.01
22 Taipei 80.70
23 Washington DC 80.37
24 Paris 79.71
25 Milan 79.30
Source: The Safe Cities Index 2017. The Economist Intelligence Unit
Position of Barcelona in urban safety categories,
2017
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Digital
safety
Health
safety
Infrastructure
safety
Personal
safety
Overall urban
safety
Source: The Safe Cities Index 2017. The Economist Intelligence Unit
21
16
3
17
13
32. 33
Quality of
life and
sustainability
Barcelona, international benchmark for
quality of life
• In terms of environment, Barcelona’s compact,
Mediterranean city model favours sustainable
mobility - which represents 85% of internal journeys -
and Barcelona stands out in prestigious rankings such
as the Sustainable Cities Mobility Index 2017, which
places it as the 21st
city in the world and the 15th
in
Europe in this regard.
• It should be highlighted that Barcelona is currently
a benchmark at European level for saving water.The
consumption of water per inhabitant and day was
162,5 litres in 2016, which is 9% less than in 2007.
Barcelona also has a relatively low per-inhabitant
volume of CO2
equivalent emissions compared with
other cities in the world.
• The cultural and educational offer is extensive and of
good quality.The city has 40 international schools in
the Barcelona area.There are 40 public libraries in the
city. Furthermore, Barcelona has nine UNESCO World
Heritage Sites:seven buildings by Gaudí, the Palau de
la Música and the Hospital de Sant Pau.
• According to the Quality of Life in European
Cities Eurobarometer published by the European
Commission in 2016, 92% of the Barcelona citizens
surveyed were satisfied with the city and the place
(neighbourhood) where they live, one of the highest
percentages of the 79 cities analysed.The public
space, safety, public transport, cleanliness and trust
in neighbours obtained relatively good results.
QUALITY OF LIFE AND SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainable
mobility representes
of inner-city journeys
in Barcelona
84.6%
33. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
34
CLIMATE
Climate indicators of Barcelona, 2017
18.4 ºC
Average annual
temperature
34.2 ºC
Extreme maximum
temperature
1.6 ºC
Extreme minimum
temperature
2,924.8
Hours of annual
sunshine
Source: Department of Statistics of the Barcelona City Council, City of Barcelona Statistics
Year Book for 2018
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
Indicators of green areas in Barcelona, 2017
583.6 ha
Urban parks
(green spaces destined for public use)
Urban green space (green spaces included
in the urban section)
11,356,472 m2
Urban green space per capita 7.0 m2
/inhabitant
Urban greenery and forest 28,343,672 m2
Urban green space and forest per capita 17.6 m2
/inhabitant
Source: Department of Statistics of the Barcelona City Council, City of Barcelona Statistics
Year Book for 2018
Beaches, 2016
10
beaches
4.7 km
Total distance
Source:Department of Statistics of Barcelona City Council
Consumption of water (litres/inhabitant and day)
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Global consumption Domestic consumption
Industrial consumption and others
Source:Department of Statistics and Department of Environment of Barcelona City Council
Selective waste collection in Barcelona (% of total)
2000 2005 2007 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Source: Barcelona City Council, City of Barcelona Statistics Year Book for 2018
178,2
162,5
114,5
63,7
11.1%
35.9%
107,5
55,0
34. 35
SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY
Modes of transport for internal travel in Barcelona, 2017
(% s/ total)
50.4%
On foot and by bicycle
34.2%
Public transport
15.3%
Private transport
Source: Working Day Mobility Survey 2017. Metropolitan Transport Authority (ATM)
Bicing
2015 2016
Bike lanes
120 km 126.2 km
Bicing users
95,168 102,353
Source: Director of mobility Services, Barcelona City Council
CULTURE AND EDUCATION
Cultural and educational offer, 2017
Public libraries (number and users in millions) 40 / 6.3
Museums,collections,exhibition centres and spaces of
architectural interest (number and users in millions)
54 / 27,6
Theatre, music and cinema audience (millions) 9.7
Public sports facilities (number and members in thousands) 1,890 / 190.1
Pre-school, primary and secondary schools 852
Foreign schools in the Barcelona area 40
Source: Institute of Culture and Department of Statistics of Barcelona City Council
Theatre, music and cinema audience
9,693,288
Audience
6,153,031
Films
2,448,261
Theatres and performing
arts spaces
1,091,996
Large
auditoriums
Source: Institute of Culture and Department of Statistics of Barcelona City Council
UNESCO heritage sites in Barcelona
Palau de la Música Catalana
Hospital de Sant Pau
Parc Güell
Palau Güell
Casa Milà
Casa Vicens
The Nativity façade and the crypt of the Sagrada Familia
Casa Batlló
Crypt of the Colònia Güell
Source: UNESCO
QUALITY OF LIFE AND SUSTAINABILITY
Barcelona,
3rd
major
European city
in terms of cultural
venues and facilities1st
in cinema
seats
Source:The Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor, 2017. Joint Reserach Centre. European Comission
35. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
36
International
positioning as
a city that adds
value
most competitive
city in the world
24th
city in the world
in terms of
reputation
15th
36. 37
• Barcelona continues to be positioned in the
international and European context as an advanced,
competitive city with a good reputation, which adds
to its traditional assets - high quality of life, culture,
health, tourist attractiveness, etc. - a growing
potential for attracting investments and talent,
particularly in the area of technological companies
and the digital economy.
• Barcelona is a pole of attraction for economic activity
that generates trust in the area of international
investment, and it held the ninth position among the
principal urban areas across the world for attracting
foreign investment projects in 2017 according to
KPMG (Global Cities Investment Monitor 2018), with
a total of 135 projects. Also worth highlighting is
the city’s good reputation - 15th
position in the City
RepTrak 2018 - and its global competitiveness - rated
the 24th
city worldwide by the Global Power City Index
2018 from the Mori Foundation.
• In the area of entrepreneurship and knowledge,
of note are the advances the city has made as a
technological innovation hub and for drawing talent
in digital entrepreneurship, situating Barcelona
among the top ten European cities in innovation
(Innovation Cities index 2018) and the 3rd
in attracting
start-ups (The State of European Tech 2017).The
city’s remarkable positioning in academic scientific
production should also be highlighted.
• As regards tourism, the rankings of international
conferences and delegates of the ICCA for business
tourism and the Euromonitor International ranking
on the number of international visitors, as well as the
ranking of cruise-ship passengers in European and
global ports, position Barcelona at the forefront. It
stands out particularly for holding the number one
position worldwide for the number of international
conferences organised as well as the number of
participants in 2017, according to the International
Congress and Convention Association.
• Barcelona is considered an attractive place to work
due to its quality of life, as well as being a good place
for investing and developing new business ideas.
Furthermore, the city is perceived as an innovative
metropolis, linked to its creativity and the areas of
culture, fashion, architecture, art and modernity and
sport.
FDi Cities and Regions of the Future 2018/19
1st
European city for strategy for promoting and attracting
foreign investment
2nd
European city with best future prospects 2018/19
Global Cities Investment Monitor, KPMG, 2018
9th
city in the world in foreign investment projects, 2017
Decoding Global Talent, 2018
4th
most attractive city to work in for global talent
Mori Global Power City Index, 2018
11th
European city for global competitiveness
24th
in the world for global competitiveness
City Rep Trak, 2018
15th
city in the world with best reputation
Innovation Cities Index 2018
8th
European city for innovation
30th
city in the world for innovation
Digital City Index 2017
2nd
European city
The State of European Tech 2017
3rd
preferred city in europe for initiating a start-up in 2017
Networked Society City Index 2016
13th
city in the world for technological maturity for social
cohesion and sustainable development
ICCA, 2017
1st
city in the world for organising international meetings
2017
1st
city in the world for participants at international
meetings 2017
European Cities Marketing Benchmarking Report,
2016/17
5th
for overnight stays for international tourists
Travellers’ choice.Trip Advisor, 2017
6th
city among the 25 principal tourist destinations in the
world
The Global Language Monitor, 2017
3rd
world fashion capital
World-wide cost of living survey. Mercer Human
Resource Consulting, 2018
79th
city in the world for cost of living
INTERNATIONAL POSITIONING AS A CITY THAT ADDS VALUE
37. BARCELONA DATA SHEET 2018
3838
LET BARCELONA
CITY COUNCIL
BECOME YOUR
BEST PARTNER TO
LAND IN BARCELONA
Landing in a new city is not easy!
We provide you with strategic guidance
to plan your arrival correctly. Additionally,
we offer you a portfolio of services
adapted to your needs.
FOR INTERNATIONAL
NEWCOMERS
AreyoumovingtoBarcelona?
Barcelona is vibrant and a creative magnet for
international talent. A welcoming city that
facilitates personal landing and the connection
with the local community through:
• Free and complete relocation guides and
welcome sessions in English
• Seminars, workshops, expat breakfasts,
city business tours
• Afterwork gatherings that put you in touch
with the international clubs
• Courses of Catalan for business
• Barcelona International Community Day
CONTACT US AT citypromotion@barcelonactiva.cat
FOR ENTREPRENEURS
Are you looking to
set up your business
in Barcelona?
Barcelona Activa provides you with
personalised itineraries that will guide you to
successfully develop your business activity
in Barcelona, a path that will allow you to
follow, step by step, the different stages in
the entrepreneurial process of starting up a
company in Barcelona.
Sign up for a welcome session in English!
CONTACT US AT barcelonactiva.cat/entrepreneurship
FOR COMPANIES
Are you looking to
expand your business
in Barcelona?
The Business Landing Service provides
comprehensive support for Barcelona-based
investment projects. One stop service, free of
charge, and fully confidential.
• Information and advice on procedures for
setting up in Barcelona
• Online business incorporation service for
limited liability companies
• Support for recruitment searches
• Business location searches
• Short-term office space for softlanding
• Information about private suppliers and
providers
• Connection with other players in the
business ecosystem
CONTACT US AT barcelonactiva.cat/businesslanding