Barcelona ranks third in world's foreign investment in AI projects

Barcelona is the third city worldwide in the ranking in terms of foreign investment in artificial intelligence (AI), according to the IBM consulting report: 'Global Location Trends 2025.'

The Catalan capital is behind London and Singapore; therefore, it is the first city in the European Union in terms of investment.

The report also points out that Catalonia is the first territory in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) with 20% of the labor force in AI across Spain. Madrid follows with 14%.

The Catalan labor and competence secretary and head of the Catalonia Trade & Investment (ACCIÓ) office, Jaume Baró, highlighted that the reports show Catalonia's " appeal as a first-level destination for investing in technological projects."

He said that AI is currently "more and more present in the day-to-day of companies" and that it is a "priority" for the Catalan government and ACCIÓ to find more foreign investments that can "create labor opportunities" in the territory.

There are currently 160 international technological hubs in Catalonia, an increase of 9% on 2024 figures, according to the last report: 'Tech Hubs Overview,' published by the Mobile World Capital Barcelona, ACCIÓ, and the international finance promotion office of the Barcelona city council.

Overall, these hubs created 6,191 new jobs in 2024, a 22% increase from the previous year's figures, and employed 34,869 people.

ACCIÓ points out that around 500 companies are focused on AI development and had gross revenue of €2.15 billion.