Barcelona Ranks 3rd globally for AI Foreign investment projects

Barcelona has been ranked as the world’s third-leading city for attracting foreign investment projects in artificial intelligence (AI). This finding comes from the “Global Location Trends 2025” study by IBM’s Plant Location International unit, in collaboration with Moody’s, which analyzes global business investment location decisions made in 2024. According to the report, Barcelona trails only two global leaders in AI-related foreign investment, making it the top city in the European Union in this field.

The IBM study also examined job creation driven by foreign investment. It found that Catalonia leads the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region, generating 20% of all jobs attracted and created in Spain—well ahead of Madrid’s 14%. Barcelona ranks third in EMEA for job creation at the city level, following London and Dubai.

Published annually since 2006, the report analyzes international cross-border business location decisions, assessing how countries, regions, and cities attract new projects or expand existing ones and the jobs these initiatives are expected to generate.

160 International Technology Hubs

Catalonia is now home to 160 international technology hubs—an increase of 9% over the previous year—according to the latest Tech Hubs Overview report by Mobile World Capital Barcelona (MWCapital), in collaboration with ACCIÓ and Barcelona City Council’s International Economic Promotion Department. These hubs created 6,191 new jobs in 2024 (a 22% rise), bringing total employment to 34,869. Their high-value activities underscore Catalonia’s—and especially Barcelona’s—strong ability to attract multinational tech investment, driving economic growth and job creation in the region.