Foreign investment doubles in Catalonia in first quarter of 2019

Foreign investment in Catalonia doubled in the first quarter of 2019, compared to the same period in 2018.

The country attracted 704 million euros, some 97% more than January to March last year (357 million euros).

Yet the figure is still far from the 1.02 billion attracted in the same period in 2017.

Luxembourg (250 million), the Netherlands (194 million), Japan (60 million) and France (49 millions) topped the list of countries whose companies invested most money from January to March.

Saudi Arabia, Germany and the United States are also high up in the rankings, according to Spain's industry, trade and tourism ministry.

In 2018, foreign investment fell just short of 3 billion euros (2.99), a drop of 11% compared to 2017 (3.39). The previous year Catalonia hit its all-time best since records started in 1993, with 8.26 billion euros.