Toledo, 9th July 2024.
According to data published by the Investment Register, Castilla-La Mancha recorded 151 million euros of gross productive investment in the first quarter of 2024, a figure three times higher than that recorded in the first quarter of 2023, and 244% higher than the average for the first quarters of the last decade.
With these figures, Castilla-La Mancha ranks sixth among Spanish regions at the beginning of 2024.
Breaking this amount down by type of operation, we can see that most of it corresponds to acquisitions (87%), followed by other expansions and reinvestments (11.7%) and greenfield/brownfield operations (1.3%).
In terms of net investment, which subtracts divestments from gross investment, the region obtained a figure of €149.37 million in the first quarter of 2024, almost tripling the figures for the same period of the previous year.
Investments from the United Kingdom (92.6 million), the Netherlands (38.8 million) and Portugal (17 million) stand out in Castilla-La Mancha in the first quarter of the year.
The above operations determine the sectorial distribution in the period: Repair and installation of machinery concentrates 61.3% of the productive flows received in the first quarter of 2024 in Castilla-La Mancha (93 million), followed by Food industry (25.7%, 39 million), Agriculture, livestock and hunting (11.6%, 18 million) and Energy supply (1.2%, 2 million).
As a novelty, the Register offers for the first time the provincial distribution of investment flows. In the first quarter of 2024, Albacete stands out in Castilla-La Mancha, which concentrates 72.6% of the flows received in the region (109.6 million), ahead of Toledo (26.1%, 38.4 million) and Ciudad Real (1.3%, 2 million).
According to data from Orbis Crossborder Investment (Moody’s), 41 new cross-border greenfield investment projects have been announced in Castilla-La Mancha in 2023, with an associated investment of US$2,871 million and with a generation of 5,123 local jobs. This is the best record in terms of projects and investment since figures have been available, the second best in terms of employment.
The investment position or investment stock, strongly influenced by the well-known ‘headquarters effect’, amounts to 2,050 million euros, 4.4% of regional GDP (2022), after a sharp increase of 54.5% in the last year. Property, plant and equipment, on the other hand, amounted to 6,698 million euros, 15.8% of the regional GDP. Castilla-La Mancha is the sixth region in Spain in terms of this variable in absolute terms, and third in relation to its GDP.
Finally, foreign capital companies maintain 53,244 jobs in Castilla-La Mancha, 6.1% of the employed population in the region.
