Catalonia’s technology hubs generate more than 15,000 jobs

• According to the Tech Hubs Overview report by Mobile World Capital Barcelona, the turnover of these technology companies exceeds 1.4 billion euros per year.
• The city of Barcelona is home to 78% of the hubs in Catalonia.
• In the last 5 years, the number of technology hubs in Barcelona and Catalonia has more than doubled, with a total of 96 hubs.
• The forecast for 2025 is to reach 20,000 jobs and 2,000 million euros in turnover.
• The Tech Hubs Overview report is promoted by Mobile World Capital Barcelona with the collaboration of ACCIÓ (the Agency for Business Competitiveness of the Government of Catalonia) and Barcelona City Council.

February 21, 2023

Catalonia is consolidating its position as a pole of attraction for talent and technological projects with more than 15,000 stable jobs in technology companies that set up their work centres in Catalonia and an economic impact of more than 1.4 billion euros per year. This is one of the conclusions drawn from the Tech Hubs Overview report promoted by Mobile World Capital Barcelona in collaboration with ACCIÓ (the Agency for Business Competitiveness of the Government of Catalonia) and Barcelona City Council.

The results of the report were presented today at a press conference by the third deputy mayor and head of the Department of Economy, Employment, Competitiveness and Finance, Laia Bonet, the Secretary for Enterprise and Competitiveness and CEO of ACCIÓ, Albert Castellanos, the CEO of Mobile World Capital Barcelona, Francesc Fajula, and the director of the Digital Talent programme of Mobile World Capital Barcelona and spokesperson for Barcelona Digital Talent, Jordi Arrufí.

Economic impact: 40% growth by 2025

In the last 5 years the implementation of technology hubs in Barcelona and Catalonia has more than doubled, with a total of 96 hubs today.

An upward trend that, according to the calculations of the companies and Barcelona Digital Talent, is expected to continue by 2025 with a forecast of 20,000 workplaces and a growth of up to 2,000 million euros in annual turnover.

Barcelona, the great pole of attraction

Of all the technology hubs established in Catalonia, 78% have their offices in the city of Barcelona. Of these, the 22@ San Martí-Poblenou district is preferred by practically half of the companies (46%), followed by the Eixample (28%). The rest of the hubs are mainly located in a municipality in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. According to the companies that participated in the study, they choose Barcelona for its ability to attract multidisciplinary talent, the high level of local talent, the established business and industrial ecosystem and also its geographical location.

The implementation of new technology hubs, the expansion of the tasks of existing ones and, consequently, the creation of more workplaces are a constant that shows that nearly 40% of the companies already have more than 100 workers.

The arrival of international talent also stands out. Practically four out of every ten employees are foreigners, and on average companies have workers of 18 different nationalities. Furthermore, 86% of the people working in a hub are between 31 and 40 years old, demonstrating that technology is not just for young people, but also for professionals who already have years of experience in the world of work. The tech hubs study also shows that 30% of women are already working in this sector, a figure higher than in recent studies.

Diverse sectors in tech hubs

With regard to the type of work each hub does, the study shows that the majority are in the gaming and industrial sectors. There are also many working in healthcare, financial services and food. Some of the technologies developed by these hubs include app development, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, systems architecture, 3D printers and cybersecurity. According to the report, the work that these hubs do in Barcelona and Catalonia is exported practically all over the world. In addition to Europe, it also reaches North America, South America and Asia. If we look at the origin of the technology companies, 66% are European, and 23% from the United States.

ABOUT MOBILE WORLD CAPITAL BARCELONA

Mobile World Capital Barcelona is an initiative that boost digital development of society and helps to improve people’s lives globally. With public and private support, MWCapital focus its activity in four areas: acceleration of innovation through digital entrepreneurship; transfer scientific knowledge to the market, promoting a more competitive industry based on the collaboration between science and business; digital talent growth between new generations and professionals; and think about the impact of technology in our society.

Together, our programs are transforming economy, education and society in a positive way. MWCapital hosts MWC Barcelona and fouded 4 Years From Now [4YFN], the business platform for the startup community present in all MWC events arround the world.

ANNEX: LIST 96 TECHNOLOGICAL HUBS

• ABB • Acuity Trading • Adesso • AkzoNobel • Allianz Technology • Alstom • Amazon • Bitpanda • Bizerba • Bumble • Centiro Solutions • Chartboost • Checkpoint Systems • Cisco Systems • Cofidis • Contentsquare • Costa Cruceros • Croda • Danone • Dedalus • DHL • Enel • Essity • Festo • FreeNow • Giesecke + Devrient • Hastee • HCL Technologies • IGG • IOI Barcelona • King • LaboratoriosHartmann • LIDL • MediaMarkt • MeetDeal • Microsoft • MiR Robots • Monolithicpower • Moodle • Mytheresa • N26 • Nicecactus • Novartis • Nutanix • Omron • Oracle • PayFit RecursosHumanos • Porsche Digital • Red Hat • Roche DiabetesCare • Rovio • Sage • Salesforce • Santevet • Satellogic • Scopely • Sequra • Siemens Energy • Technica Electronics • Teladoc Health • Thoughtworks • Universal Robots • Unmanned life • Veriff • Veristat • Vistaprint • Ypsomed Software • Zeptolab