It is estimated that the Information and Communication sector – which includes ICTs – generated 9.1% of Barcelona’s gross value added in 2023. These are some of the highlights of the report Barcelona in figures 2024. Main economic indicators for the Barcelona area.

Barcelona has created the largest neutral interconnection ecosystem in southern Europe, which has led to an expected investment of 1.047 billion euros in data processing centres in and around the capital by 2025. The city is thus cementing its role as a Mediterranean digital port, and is set to become a hub for the exchange of digital data and services.

Catalonia was home to a record 140 technology hubs in 2023, almost four times the figure for 2016, according to the Tech Hubs Overview 2024 report, with multicultural workforces that, on average, include people of 16 different nationalities.

The city of Barcelona is making progress in its transition to a diverse, innovative and socially inclusive economic model, prioritising the promotion of strategic sectors: the digital economy, creative sectors, health and biotechnology, the blue economy, the care economy, agri-food, shops and restaurants, the visitor economy, science and innovation and, cutting across all these sectors, the social and solidarity economy.

The BioRegion of Catalonia is made up of more than 1,400 companies and 91 research organisations which represent 8% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 6.5% of employment in Catalonia. With regard to the business network, digital health is still the fastest growing sub-sector (33%), followed by biotechnology companies (30%) and medtech companies (20%).

Barcelona, European technology hub

Barcelona aims to become a leader in the field of technology in order to improve quality of life in a global context in which mobile technology is a key vector for the growth of the economy as a whole. Notably, Barcelona is the Mobile World Capital and the permanent home of the Mobile World Congress (GSMA).

What’s more, 17.4% of Barcelona’s gross value added comes from knowledge- and technology-intensive (KTI) industries, according to data from the Municipal Data Office. For the sixth year running, the StartUp Heatmap Europe for 2023 lists Barcelona as the third most popular city in Europe for establishing start-ups, behind London and Berlin. Meanwhile, State of European Tech 2024 (Atomico) ranks Barcelona eighth among ecosystems in Europe for attracting investment in technology, and  Startup Genome’s Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2024 ranks Barcelona second among the top 100 emerging ecosystems in the world.

The European Commission has chosen the Barcelona Supercomputing Center to head one of the European Union’s seven AI Factories. The project, which will entail an overall investment in Barcelona of nearly 200 million euros, aims to democratise access to advanced supercomputing infrastructure and promote European tech sovereignty.

Barcelona has established itself as a leader in certain specialised segments of the creative sector, such as video games. The city has also positioned itself as a European hub for audiovisual talent, as demonstrated by the success of the ISE (Integrated Systems Europe) conference, which in 2024 broke attendance records with more than 73,000 visitors from 162 countries, 27% more than in 2023. Meanwhile, StartupBlink’s Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2024 ranks Barcelona as the world’s leading city for the video game industry.