2 0 1 9 r e p o r t - barcelona.cat...the barcelona observatory presents its 2019 report, which...

R T2 0 1 9 PER O

The Barcelona Observatory presents its 2019 Report, which provides an international perspective on the posi-tion of Barcelona and its Metropolitan Area with regard to the economy, innovation, quality of life and sustain-ability.

At this time, in a national and global context shaped by complexity and a degree of instability, the City of Barce-lona shows that it continues to be a resilient territory that offers certainty and opportunities.

The city has grown at a rate of over 2.5% in recent years, and the macroeconomic data indicates that our job market has retained its vitality and dynamism, with a notable job-creation rate and a growth in the number of people registered with Social Security. For 2019, the forecasts predict continued growth, but at a rate that is more in line with the forecasts for a worldwide deceleration. However, Barcelona has demonstrated that it is a city which is able to remain attractive and maintain a good economic and business position in Europe and worldwide, as shown by the 33 indicators included in the Barcelona Observatory 2019 Report.

We are a metropolis with a strong, rich and diverse so-cio-economic structure, characterised by a number of assets that define us as a city with great potential in terms of the digital revolution that has altered invest-ment and employment flows. In the last century, the large-scale migrations flowed towards industrial centres where jobs were available. In the 21st century, talented workers travel to cities where they can develop their life projects under the best possible conditions; investment is following talent, rather than the other way round. In relation to this point, our city also has a significant critical mass of qualified human capital, and in 2018, the num-ber of workers with university qualifications increased to 46.9%,10 points above the European Union as a whole.

This year, Barcelona is the 4th European city for innova-tion, and 21st worldwide, only behind London, Paris and

Berlin, according to Innovation Cities Index 2019. This is the city's best result in Europe since the classification began, having risen 4 places in the European ranking and 9 places in the worldwide ranking. The city's positive trajectory is confirmed by the fact that, for the fourth year running, Barcelona is among the top 25 metropolitan areas in the world for global competitiveness, ac-cording to the Mori Memorial Foundation's Global Power City Index 2019, where it has climbed to 22nd place.

These factors make Barcelona a very attractive desti-nation for foreign investment, which in turn positively affects research and innovation. Barcelona has risen two places since last year and is now the 7th best urban area for attracting foreign investment projects, accord-ing to the KPMG's Global Investment Monitor 2019, and it stands out for its ranking for R+D projects (4th).

Other factors that explain these good results include being the leading city for organising international con-gresses, as well as the entrepreneurial spirit that char-acterises the city. In terms of its technological enter-prise ecosystem, Barcelona is still the 3rd most preferred city for locating a new start-up, according to the report

BARCELONA OBSERVATORY REPORT 2019 2 Presentation

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Startup Heatmap Europe 2019, while coming 7th for the number of scale-ups, according to the European Com-mission.

The task that Barcelona City Council is furthering regard-ing the economic promotion and internationalisation of the city is of vital importance for continuing to improve our global position and our leadership. Also very impor-tant is the work that all the public and private stakehold-ers can do to help maintain the confidence generated by the city in the areas of technological enterprise, interna-tional investment, tourism, and in general, for the vitality of the economy and improving people's quality of life.

At a local level, we have to find responses to new global challenges, such as the ecological transition, sustainable economic development and reducing inequalities. Along these lines, it could be said that the 21st century is the century of cities and that the Barcelona Observatory 2019 Report is a useful tool that will help us decide how we should approach urban dynamics and our urban ac-tions, from a global perspective.

Lastly, I would like to offer my congratulations to the technical teams at the Chamber of Commerce and the Barcelona City Council, who have made the publication of this seventeenth annual Barcelona Observatory re-port possible. I would also like to thank the organisa-tions who have provided support for their involvement. This report is a good example of collaboration between institutions, something that characterises our recent history and helps to strengthen the great collective pro-ject Barcelona is.

Jaume Collboni i CuadradoArea for Economy, Work, Competitiveness and Tax, Barcelona City Council


Cities are at the centre of the great future challenges that we have to face as a society, such as digital trans-formation, achieving full, productive employment and sustained, inclusive growth, all set out in the UN's Agenda 2030. The metropolitan phenomenon will largely shape future policies, and the Barcelona Cham-ber of Commerce aims to help in defining their strate-gic lines using rigorous tools. For this reason, we are pleased to present the 17th edition of the Barcelona Observatory's report, a study on the city's position in relation to other leading cities around the world. This publication is the result of a collaboration between the Chamber of Commerce and Barcelona City Coun-cil. It is an analysis of the 33 indicators included in the publication, in the areas of economic activity, quality of life and social cohesion, the job market and train-ing, the knowledge society and tourism. It confirms and reinforces Barcelona's good world positioning for most of the indicators. The Observatory also includes a monograph that analyses the results of the AMB's Business Climate Survey, produced together with the Chamber of Commerce and Idescat. In global terms, the results for 2019 are positive, for the fifth year run-ning, but undergoing a process of deceleration that is in line with the international scenario.

This year, Barcelona stands out for being among the four best European cities for innovation, a result that fosters and reinforces a competitive economic struc-ture and gives more added value. This is due to the creativity, talent and enterprise that characterise the city, and its capacity for attracting foreign greenfield investment projects, as well as being a top venue for technology and medicine congresses and attracting delegates. In addition to these three characteristics, the city also has good arrival and departure infrastruc-tures, the port and the airport, which register record numbers of passengers year after year. Together, they reinforce Barcelona's position as the leading hub of economic activity in Southern Europe. Along these

lines, the city must continue to strengthen industries based on knowledge, energy, biotechnology, ICTs, ar-tificial intelligence, space, security, big data and the 4.0 industry, through the growing number of start-ups that are located in the city. This will broaden the range of opportunities and the number of qualified workers who are employed in scientific and technical activities. In addition to these good results, we must also add the quality of life offered by the city. Barcelo-na is among the top ten cities worldwide for offering the best work-life balance. It is also considered to be a safe city, which attracts international talent, pro-motes sustainability and has an outstanding sports, cultural, culinary and educational offering, as well as having two of the best business schools in the world. These are vital aspects for attracting high-quality tour-ism that is in line with the city's values, and with more advanced infrastructures, this could be distributed to various parts of the country.

These are the city's strong points, but there are also some results that turn the spotlight on aspects with room for improvement. The changes resulting from


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development, globalisation and technological pro-gress are often projected with greater intensity in cities. However, their collateral effects, such as in-creasing immigration, rising house prices and pres-sure from tourism, among others, can also negatively affect social cohesion. Nonetheless, the response for tackling these challenges must be found in the city it-self, by improving the quality of what it offers, efficient infrastructures, adapting training to the needs of companies, large-scale industrial policy agreements based on strategic sectors and the future, as well as an urban-planning policy that responds to present and future needs. These and many other aspects are included in Project Catalonia 2030/2040, which the Chamber of Commerce is promoting, and which de-fines the future economic model that we wish to build together.

We therefore hope that this report is a useful tool for all economic stakeholders, who are working to make Barcelona a competitive, innovative, genuine, sustain-able and cohesive city. In other words, a leading world city that reflects who we are and where we want to go.

Joan Canadell i Bruguera

President of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce


BARCELONA OBSERVATORY REPORT 2019 6 Credits

BARCELONA CITY COUNCIL

Jaume Collboni i CuadradoFirst Deputy Mayor Economy, Work, Competitiveness and Tax Office

Albert Dalmau i MirandaGeneral Manager of Economy, Resources and Economic Promotion

Àngels Santigosa i Copete Head of the Economy Resources and Economic Promotion Research Department

BARCELONA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Joan Canadell i Bruguera President

Xavier Carbonell i Roura General Manager

Joan Ramon Rovira i Homs Head of the Economic and Infrastructure Studies Department

Carme Poveda i MartínezHead of the Economic Analysis of the Economic Studies Department

TECHNICAL TEAM

Economy, Resources and Economic Promotion Research Department, Barcelona City Council

Teresa Udina i Abelló Economist

Economic and Infrastructure Studies Department

Sandra Gutiérrez i Cubero Statistics and graduate in market research

Alejandra Marly i Omedes Economist and journalist

Graphic design and coordination

Toni Fresno Barcelona Chamber of Commerce

Credits

BARCELONA OBSERVATORY REPORT 2019 7 Contents

Contents

9 INTRODUCTION

13 FACTS AND FIGURES BARCELONA 2018

17 RESULTS

19 Hub of economic activity

21 Introduction

22 Global competitiveness of cities in 2019

23 World cities with the best reputation in 2018

24 Innovation in cities around the world in 2019

26 Main world urban areas receiving international invest-ment projects in 2018

27 Entrepreneurial activity in countries around the world in 2018

29 Main cities in the world for the number of international congresses and delegates in 2018

31 Quality of life, sustainability and social cohesion

33 Introduction

34 Best Work-life balance in world cities in 2019

35 Safety in cities round the world in 2019

36 Sport in cities around the world 2019

37 Creative and cultural cities of Europe, 2017

38 Population at risk of poverty or social exclusion in European regions in 2018

39 Sustainable Cities 2018

41 Labour market and training

43 Introduction

44 Attractiveness of cities around the world for digital talent 2019

46 Employment rate in European regions in 2018

48 Part-time employment in European regions in 2018

50 Unemployment rate in European regions in 2018

51 Working population with a tertiary education in European regions in 2018

52 Best European business schools in 2019

55 Knowledge society

57 Introduction

58 Most popular European cities for establishing a start-up in 2019

60 Main European cities for the number of scale-ups in 2018

62 Top cities in the world for scientific academic production in 2018

64 Population employed in technological manufacturing and services in European regions in 2018

66 Population employed in science and technology in 2018, and research and development expenditure in European regions in 2016

69 Tourism

71 Introduction

72 Main European airports by passenger volume in 2018

74 International tourists in cities around the world 2018

75 Cruise ships in major world ports in 2018

77 Prices and costs

79 Introduction

80 Cost of living in world cities 2019

82 Corporation Tax, VAT and Social Security contributions in countries around the world 2019

84 OfficerentalpricesinEuropeancities2019

86 Commercial premises rental prices in cities around the world 2019

88 Logistics land rental prices in the main European cities 2019

90 Housing rental prices in the main European cities in 2019

92 Salary levels in cities around the world 2018

95 SUMMARY OF RESULTS

96 Summary of results

102 Positioning of Barcelona in international cities rankings

103 SPECIAL REPORT

105 Business Climate in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona Evolution 2018 and 2019

107 Executive summary

108 Business performance. Evolution and prospects

111 Evolution and prospects of the main business variables

119 Appendix on methodology

The summary is interactive. Click on the section you want to check for access directly.To return to the summary, click directly on the red circle in the bottom side of the page.

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

Presenting the Barcelona Observatory’s 2019 Report.

The Barcelona Observatory is an initiative promoted by Barcelona City Council and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, with the collaboration of other city organ-isations which, year after year, take part by facilitating information and making key contributions concerning their sector of activity.

This seventeenth edition of the Barcelona Observatory’s annual report aims to offer various references for de-cision-making by economic stakeholders interested in doing business or becoming established in Barcelona, in order to attract talent and provide support for candi-dacies for holding events or the opening of offices in the City of Barcelona. To this end, as always, the report pre-sents Barcelona's positioning in relation to the world's major cities, based on a series of economic and social indicators.

The 2019 Report presents a series of characteristics that are summarised below:

• A selection of 33 significant indicators that offer read-ers a synthetic, efficient presentation of the most rel-evant figures from the perspective of the city’s posi-tioning, of its characteristics and the goals it aims to achieve, which are presented in six thematic areas: a focus for economic activity; quality of life, sustainabil-ity and social cohesion; job market and training; the knowledge society; tourism; and prices and costs.

As a new feature, this year's report also includes 3 new indicators: Best Work-life balance in cities around the world and the index of sustainable cities, which are part of the chapter “Quality of life, sustainability and social cohesion”, and attraction for digital talent in “Job market and training”.

• A synoptic table presenting the series of indicators, in order to showcase the results and a graph show-ing Barcelona’s international positioning according to various rankings.

• A monograph produced by the Chamber of Com-merce, presenting an analysis of the business climate in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area for 2018-2019 and the prospects for 2020, which includes a specific analysis of the main economic sectors. Based on the opinions of business people, the environment sur-rounding Catalonia and the City of Barcelona is put into context, along with their future prospects.

The Barcelona Observatory is characterised by the following factors:

• It is based on a series of indicators, defined prefer- entialy on a city scale, but susceptible to being extended to other territorial areas.

• The information sources are all prestigious interna-tional organisations and institutions.

• Most of the sources are international rankings, and in seven indicators the data are obtained through a sample collected from the main urban areas.

• Where possible, the indicators include a graphic representation of the evolution, making it possible to evaluate progression in each specific area.

• The collected data and information is as up to date as possible, according to current availability.

BARCELONA OBSERVATORY REPORT 2019 11 Introduction

FACTS AND FIGURESBARCELONA 2018

BARCELONA OBSERVATORY REPORT 2019 14 Facts and Figures Barcelona 2018

Facts and Figures Barcelona 2018

Copenhagen

Oslo Stockholm

Warsaw

Berlin

Prague Frankfurt

Munich

Zurich

Lyon Geneva

Milan

Amsterdam

Brussels

London

Dublin

Paris

Bilbao

Palma

BarcelonaZaragoza

Madrid

Lisbon

Athens Seville

Algiers

Rabat

Tunis

Rome

1,800 km

2h 30 min

1,000 km

1h 40 min

BARCELONA OBSERVATORY REPORT 2019 15 Facts and Figures Barcelona 2018

Surface area (km2) 101.4Population (january 2019) 1,650,358Foreign population (% of total) (january 2019) 20.2%Density (inhabitants/km2) (january 2019) 16,283.7Climate (observatori Can Bruixa) Average monthly temperature 18.5 ºC Annual rainfall (mm) 996.6 Hours of sun 2,725.8

MACRO ECONOMIC DATA GDP (var/ yr %) - Catalonia 2,6GDP (var/ yr %) - Barcelona 2,6Social Security membership 1,120,737Unemployment rate 16-64 years old (%) 10.3Employment rate 16-64 years old (%) 70.9Activity rate 16-64 years old (%) 79.0CPI (average var. %) - Barcelona province 1.8Exports (million €) - Barcelona province 55,802.4Imports (million €) - Barcelona province 72,813.1Outbound foreign investment (million €) - Catalonia 5,258.8Inbound foreign investment (millions €) - Catalonia 3,008.6Companies - Barcelona province 468,777Foreign companies in Catalonia 8,642

COMMERCE AND TOURISM Retail premises - Barcelona province 72,964Open-air shopping areas 22Municipal markets (number and surface area [m2]) 43/260,941Hotels Numbers 648 Beds 81,377 Tourists 8,044,444

INFRAESTRUCTURE Airport Runways (number and length [m]) 3/3,352;2,660;2,528 Passengers 50,172,457 International passengers (%) 73.2

Port Land surface area (ha) 1,109.9 Docks and moorings (km) 23.2 Total traffic (thousands of tonnes) 65,895.1

Trade fair and congress activity Trade fairs* 77 Visits to Fira de Barcelona* +2,500,000 Hall surface area taken up by fairs (m2)* +1,000,000 International meetings 1,728

Catalan Universities 12University students in Catalonia (course 2017/2018) 252,107Foreign students (province of Barcelona) (course 2017/2018) 24,477Innovative companies in Catalonia* 3,406

Beaches (number and metres) 10; 4,780Bike lanes (km and bicing members) 195; 111,872Public libraries (number and users) 40; 6,401,065Museums, collections and exhibition spaces (number and users) 54; 31,003,070Public sports facilities (number and users) 1,912; 192,897Theater, music and cinema spectators 9,398,287

*2017 data.. Source: AENA, Barcelona City Council, Fira de Barcelona, Generalitat of Catalonia, Idescat, INE, State Ports, Secretary of State for Trade, Turisme de Barcelona, Institute of Culture of Barcelona.

GEOGRAPHICAL ENVIRONMENT

ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

TRAINING AND CITY OF KNOWLEDGE

QUALITY OF LIFE

RESULTS

Hub of economic act ivity

Introduction

The City of Barcelona’s economy performed well in 2018 in terms of economic and job market activity, and the city's GDP rose by 2.6% for the year, driven by the fa-vourable performance of internal demand, in particular family consumption, and an increase in business invest-ment, although there was a certain amount of deceler-ation during the year. This trend was maintained in the firsthalfof2019,withanincreaseintheCatalanGDPof2%,while theGDP of Barcelona—less affected by theslow-down in industrial activity— reached a year-on-year growth of 2.5% in the second quarter. The forecasts for 2019 predict a continued moderation of Catalonia’s eco-nomic growth, which in an uncertain environment, would maintain a more favourable performance than the Euro-zone as a whole.

Within this economic context, Barcelona remains in the top 25 most globally competitive cities for the fourth year running, according to the Mori Memori-al Foundation report Global Power City Index —which ranks it 22th in the world and 11th in Europe—, while for the fifth year running, the City RepTrak report lists it among the top 15 cities with the best reputation in the world. Although it has gone down a few places in the 2018 edition, it is still above cities like London, Madrid and Amsterdam. In Resonance Consultancy’s World's Best Cities 2019 ranking, which evaluates the quality and reputation of a city from different perspectives, Barcelona is placed 5th in the world, behind only Lon-don, Paris, New York and Tokyo, having risen 27 places since the previous year.

In regard to innovation, Barcelona is ranked as the 4th most innovativecity inEurope for thefirst time—onlybehind London, Paris and Berlin— and 21st out of 500 cities around the world, according to 2thinknow’s Inno-vation Cities Index 2019. These favourable results, which are a notable improvement on the previous year, show the importance of continuing to consolidate Barcelona on the international map along with its potential for be-coming a benchmark for sectors linked to the world of innovation.

Other indicators reaffirmBarcelona'sappeal fordoingbusiness and the city's positive image abroad. Barcelo-

na generates confidence in the area of internationalinvestment, ranked 7th among the main urban areas of the world for attracting foreign investment projects in 2018, as well as being ranked 4th for attracting R+D projects, according to KPMG. In fact, Barcelona is the European city with the best strategy for promoting and attracting foreign investment for the period 2018/19, according to the FDi report Cities and Regions of the Future 2018/19 (Financial Times Group), and according to the EY Attractiveness Survey Europe 2019, it is the 9th most attractive city for international investors. This means that Catalonia is one of the Western European economies with the highest weighting of foreign in-vestment stock over its GDP, at 57.4% in 2017, accord-ing the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce.

Regarding international fairs and congresses, in 2018, Barcelona was the world leader in the number of participants and 4th for the number of meetings organised, in the ranking compiled by the Interna-tional Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).

In terms of entrepreneurship in 2018, the rate of en-trepreneurial activity (TEA) in the Province of Barce-lona rose to 8.6%, surpassing countries like Sweden (6.8%), Germany (5.0%) and Italy (4.2%), while the rate for women entrepreneurs in the province (7.9%) is significantly above the European Union average (5.8%), after rising 0.5 points in the last year. The Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and Barcelona City Council are both working in this area to promote entrepreneurism and help to create high quality jobs in the city.

BARCELONA OBSERVATORY REPORT 2019 21 Hub of economic activity

In 2019, Barcelona

was ranked as the 4th most innovative city

in Europe

For the fourth year running, Barcelona is among the top 25 cities for global competitiveness

Global competitiveness of cities in 2019


In 2019, the Global Power City Index report, which com-pares 48 major world cities, ranked Barcelona 22nd in the world and 11th in Europe for its global competitiveness. The first ten places in this ranking remain unaltered com-pared to the previous year. It is headed by the big cities of London, New York, Tokyo, Paris and Singapore. Barcelona has climbed two places, surpassing Beijing, Boston, Chica-go and Vancouver, while also remaining ahead of Geneva, Shanghai and Milan. Barcelona therefore reaffirms its po-sition in world and European rankings, as it is one of the leading 25 world cities for the fourth year running, but it has a slightly lower overall score compared to last year, as have most of these cities in the global ranking.

Since 2008, the Japanese Mori Memorial Foundation, with the collaboration of renowned universities and think tanks, has compiled the Global Power City Index report based on the results of seventy indicators divided into six categories of urban competitiveness. In the 2019 edition, Barcelona is ranked 6th in the world for livability, 14th for cultural inter-action, 19th for accessibility and 21st for the environment, while occupying the 33rd and 36th places for R+D and econ-

omy, respectively. Meanwhile, from the perspective of city residents, Barcelona is the 6th most valued city, while it is placed 13th by worldwide professionals, 15th by tourists and 34th by executives.

Position City European ranking

Global competitiveness of cities around the world. 2019

1 London 1 2 New York 3 Tokyo 4 Paris 2 5 Singapore 6 Amsterdam 3 7 Seoul 8 Berlin 4 9 Hong Kong 10 Sydney 11 Melbourne 12 Los Angeles 13 Madrid 5 14 Stockholm 6 15 Zurich 7 16 Toronto 17 Frankfurt 8 18 San Francisco 19 Dubai 20 Copenhagen 9 21 Vienna 10 22 Barcelona 11 23 Vancouver 24 Beijing 25 Boston 26 Chicago 27 Brussels 12 28 Helsinki 13 29 Osaka 30 Shanghai 31 Washington, D.C. 32 Moscow 14 33 Dublin 15 34 Geneva 16 35 Kuala Lumpur

Source: Global Power City Index 2019. Institute of Urban Strategies. The Mori Memorial Foundation.

Source: Global Power City Index 2019. Institute for Urban Strategies. The Mori Memorial Foundation.

Categories of urban competitiveness (Positioning of Barcelona)

Overall

Economy

R+D

Cultural interaction

Livability

Environment

Accessibility

30 33

33 36

22 24

2018 2019

64

14 14

15 19

21 26

World cities with the best reputation in 2018

NB: The index has a value of between 0 and 100.

Source: City RepTrak 2018. Reputation Institute.

World cities with the best reputation. 2018


Position City Contents

For the fifth year running, Barcelona is one of the top 15 cities with the best reputation

The Reputation Institute’s City RepTrak report ranks Barce-lona as the 15th world city with the best reputation in 2018, out of the 56 cities with the largest GDP, population and recognition, based on an online survey of 12,044 people from the most influential countries in the world (G8). For the fifth year running, and despite a difficult time for the city's image due to the terrorist attack in La Rambla on 17 August and the difficulties arising from the political situa-tion, Barcelona has remained among the top 15 world cit-ies with the best reputation.

Tokyo, Sydney and Copenhagen lead the 2018 ranking, with Barcelona as one of a group of twenty cities with sim-ilar scores, including Munich, Montreal and Helsinki (with-in a range of -2/+2 points), something that causes a certain amount of volatility in the positions from one year to the next.

Within a context of a general loss of reputation among cit-ies, the report states that six of the top ten cities in 2017 have dropped below the top ten in 2018. Barcelona has dropped seven places compared to 2017. However, it not only has a similar result to 2016 (14th), but remains ahead of cities like London, Madrid and Amsterdam.

Meanwhile, Resonance Consultancy's World’s Best Cities 2020 ranking, which evaluates the quality and reputation of cities from various perspectives, including location, prod-uct, programming, people, prosperity and promotion, as well as including data from digital channels, places Barce-

lona 8th in the world, ahead of San Francisco, Amsterdam and Hong Kong, in a ranking headed by London, New York, Paris and Tokyo.

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27

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30

Tokyo

Sydney

Copenhagen

Vienna

Stockholm

Venice

Rome

Zurich

Munich

Montreal

Helsinki

Melbourne

Toronto

Milan

Barcelona

Vancouver

London

Dublin

Madrid

San Francisco

Edinburgh

Amsterdam

Frankfurt

New York

Prague

Paris

Singapore

Gold Coast

Seattle

Brussels

81.8

81.5

81.0

80.9

80.8

80.3

79.2

78.5

78.2

78.2

77.7

77.7

77.6

77.1

76.5

76.4

76.4

76.1

76.1

75.9

75.7

75.5

75.5

75.0

74.4

73.3

73.1

73.0

72.9

72.1

Barcelona's positioning in City RepTrak (2011-2018)

Source: City RepTrak. Reputation Institute.

2011 7

2012 6

2014 9

2015 6

2013 23

2016 14

2017 8

2018 15


Innovation in cities around the world in 2019

According to the 12th edition of the Innovation Cities Index, Barcelona is placed as the 4th European city (only behind London, Paris and Berlin) and the 21st world city for inno-vation, out of the 500 cities analysed by the consultancy firm 2thinknow in 2019. In a world ranking headed by New York, Tokyo and London, Barcelona has risen nine places compared to last year, passing four European cities (Am-sterdam, Vienna, Munich and Stockholm), two American cities (San Diego and Austin), the Canadian cities of Mon-treal and Vancouver, and Hong Kong. The city is notable for having climbed up to the top positions in just a few years. Although it suffered a major regression last year, due to the notable improvement of various North American cit-ies, the rising trend has returned in 2019, with Barcelona achieving its best result in the European ranking and its second-best result in the international ranking since 2012 (when the available results began). The index classifies the cities into four categories of innovation, according to their scores for 162 indicators that measure the conditions conducive to creating innovation in cities. Barcelona is in Nexus, the top category, along with 59 other cities. That is followed by the categories Hub, Node and Upstart. These 162 indicators are grouped into 31 segments that cover all the economic, industrial and social functions of an econ-omy, which are then summarised into three factors: cul-tural, human infrastructure and interconnected markets.

Similarly, according to the State of European Tech 2019 —the report on technological trends compiled by the Brit-ish investment firm Atomico—, Barcelona is in 7th place according to invested capital, and 6th according to the number of start-ups that have received funding over the past five years.

Barcelona is the 4th most innovative city in Europe and 21st in the world

Source: Innovation CitiesTM Index. 2thinknow.

Position of Barcelona

2012/13

56

27

2019

21

4

2018

30

8

2016/17

13

5

2014

56

25

2015

27

13

World ranking European ranking


Source: 2thinknow Innovation Cities™ Index 2019.

Innovation cities Index

New York

Tòquio

Londres

Los Angeles

Singapur

París

Chicago

Boston

San Francisco - San José

Toronto

Melbourne

Berlín

Dallas-Fort Worth

Seül

Sydney

Seattle

Houston

Atlanta

Washington DC

Miami

Barcelona

Mont-real

San Diego

Filadèlfia

Viena

Pequín

Munic

Madrid

Milà

Amsterdam

London

Paris

Berlin

Barcelona

Vienna

Munich

Madrid

Milan

Amsterdam

Stockholm

Moscow

Oslo

Istanbul

Rome

Hamburg

Copenhagen

Dublin

Manchester

Helsinki

Prague

Zurich

Frankfurt

Brussels

Lyon

Düsseldorf

Athens

Budapest

Stuttgart

Rotterdam

Cologne

City World ranking 2019 City European ranking 2019

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Main world urban areas receiving international investment projects in 2018

Barcelona, 7th global urban area for foreign investment projects

KPMG's Global Investment Monitor 2019 report places Bar-celona in 7th position among the main urban areas in the world for attracting greenfield foreign investment projects in 2018. The city therefore climbs two places in compari-son with the previous year's ranking. One of the contribut-ing factors for this rise is Barcelona's favourable position-ing in attracting R+D projects, an area where it is ranked as the 4th global area, with 29 projects, coming only behind Paris, Singapore and Bangalore.

Furthermore, according to an ACCIO report based on data from FDi Markets (Financial Times group), during the 2014-2018 period, Catalonia has attracted a total of 665 foreign investment projects —with a volume of €16,295 M— creating 63,005 direct jobs, and it is ranked 3rd in the Western European region for job creation.

Barcelona is the European city with the best strategy for promoting and attracting foreign investment in the 2018-2019 period, according to the Fdi report Cities and Regions of the Future 2018/19 (Financial Times group). Fur-thermore, according to the EY Attractiveness Survey Europe 2019, Barcelona is the 9th most attractive city for interna-tional investors, in a context where uncertainty associated with Brexit is affecting the volume of foreign investment throughout Europe.

Lastly, productive foreign investment in Catalonia in 2018 was €3,008.6 million, while 8,642 foreign companies located there, coming mainly from Germany, France and the United States.

NB: Greenfield projects.

Source: Global Cities Investment Monitor 2019. KPMG.

2017 Position Urban area 2018 Position

Main world urban areas receiving international investment projects. 2018

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3

2

4

6

5

9

6

23

16

15

11

14

10

12

26

8

24

17

21

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London

Paris

Singapore

Dubai

New York

Shanghai

Barcelona

Hong Kong

Düsseldorf

São Paulo

Madrid

Amsterdam

Tokyo

Dublin

Sydney

Mexico

Bangalore

Warsaw

Frankfurt

Melbourne

Main urban areas around the world for attracting foreign investment in R+D projects. 2018

Source: Global Cities Investment Monitor 2019, KPMG.

Paris

Singapore

Bangalore

Barcelona

Shanghai

Hyderabad

London

Pune

Madrid

Belfast

42

33

47

29

24

22

19

14

12

12


Entrepreneurial activity in countries around the world in 2018

Barcelona achieves its highest rate since 2007

According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) data, the 2018 entrepreneurial activity rates (TEA) for the resi-dent population of the Barcelona area and for Catalonia as a whole are 8.6% and 8.1%, respectively, with increases of 0.1 and 1% compared to the previous year and reach-ing their highest values since 2007.

This evolution in 2018 means that the TEAs for Barcelona and Catalonia are better than those for Sweden (6.8%), Germany (5.0%) and Italy (4.2%). Furthermore, Catalonia has the second highest entrepreneurial activity rate out of all the autonomous communities, surpassing Madrid and the average for Spain (6.4%) and the European Union, where the entrepreneurial activity rate decreased slightly to 7.7%.

Regarding the TEA for women, the rate for Barcelona (7.9%) surpasses those of Catalonia, Spain and the EU (7.7, 6 and 5.8%, respectively), after rising by 0.5 points. With this performance, the difference between the rates for men and women is reduced to 1.5 points.

In regard to the quality of entrepreneurial activity, the data for 2018 confirms the favourable trend observed in previous years, given that opportunity entrepreneurism is the main motivation of more than half the entrepreneurs in Barcelona Province (52.9%, while 18.1% do so out of necessity) and that the percentage of new entrepreneurs who have completed a degree or postgraduate studies has increased to 65%.

NB: Average referring to EU economies based on innovation.Entrepreneurial activity includes nascent companies (less than 3 months of activity) and new companies (between 3 and 42 months of activity).The original database contains 63 countries, although the table only includes a selected sample of countries for reference.

Source: Global Report and Executive Report for Catalonia 2018-2019, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).

TEA for women Country Total TEA

Entrepreneurial activity rate in various countries around the world. 2018 (% population 18-64 years old)

17.0

17.3

13.6

8.3

3.8

9.3

7.5

8.8

8.1

9.1

7.9

5.4

7.7

5.8

4.7

4.0

4.3

6.0

9.0

3.9

5.3

4.5

3.3

2.8

18.7

17.9

15.6

12.3

12.1

10.4

9.6

9.5

9.1

9.0

8.6

8.2

8.1

7.7

7.4

6.8

6.6

6.4

6.4

6.3

6.1

5.2

5.0

4.2

Canada

Brazil

United States

Netherlands

Slovenia

China

Ireland

Taiwan

Argentina

Israel

Barcelona

United Kingdom

Catalonia

EU average

Switzerland

Sweden

Morocco

Spain

Slovakia

Greece

France

Poland

Germany

Italy

BARCELONA OBSERVATORY REPORT 2019 28 Hub economic activity

Source: Global Report and Informe Executiu Catalunya 2018-2019. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).

SuïssaFrance

Netherlands

Germany

Sweden

Poland

Slovakia

Greece

Estonia

Latvia

Italy

Ireland

Spain Barcelona

Catalonia

Entrepreneurial activity in Europe. 2018 (% population 18-64 years old)

9.6

8.2

12.3

5.0

7.46.1

6.4 8.6 4.2

6.3

6.4

5.2

19.4

14.1

6.8

8.1

United Kingdom


Main cities in the world for the number of international congresses and delegates in 2018

Barcelona continues to be 1st in the world for the number of delegates in international congresses

In 2018, Barcelona is top of the ranking of cities around the world for the number of delegates and 4th for the number of international congresses organised, according to the Interna-tional Congress and Convention Association (ICCA). In 2018, 163 international congresses were held in the city, 32 fewer thanthepreviousyear,anditlostfirstplace,beingovertakenbyParis,ViennaandMadrid.However,Barcelonaconfirmedits strength as a congress destination, remaining in the top 5 of the ranking for the 19th year running, in a record year for the economic impact, overnight stays and average stays of the delegates. Although there was also a reduction in the number of people participating in international congresses (-9.3%), Barcelona remained in 1st place, with 134,838 del-egates. Compared to 2017, 9 cities remain in the top 10 of the congress ranking, with Seoul being replaced by Bangkok, while in the ranking for delegate numbers, Munich, Toronto and Copenhagen joined the top ten, in detriment to the three cities that lost places: London, Lisbon and Prague.

It should be noted that the ICCA bases its ranking on par-ticipant registrations in congresses with a minimum of fifty delegates and which rotate between at least three different countries. It therefore does not include such im-portant events for the city as the Mobile World Congress, which has its established headquarters in Barcelona and

attracts over 100,000 participants. According to the Union of International Associations (UIA) classification, Barcelona came 9th in the ranking, behind London and above Geneva. This means it rose one place compared to 2017, although the number of meetings held fell considerably from 193 to 148.

Main cities in the world for the number of international congresses and delegates in 2018

Source: International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).n. a.: not available.

Paris

Vienna

Madrid

Barcelona

Berlin

Lisbon

London

Singapore

Prague

Bangkok

Cities Variation 2018 2018/2017 (%) congresses

11.6

-9.5

7.8

-16.4

-12.4

2.0

-15.3

-9.4

-9.9

22.7

212

172

165

163

162

152

150

145

136

135

Barcelona

Paris

Vienna

Munich

Berlin

Amsterdam

Toronto

Copenhagen

Madrid

Singapore

Cities Variation 2018 2018/2017 (%) delegates

-9.3

13.0

-8.0

–

-10.2

13.2

111.9

30.0

-34.9

-17.3

134,838

126,243

104,775

93,443

87,623

85,549

84,600

80,618

71,885

69,261


Delegates Congresses

Source: International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).

4

2018

1

33

2016

2 2

1

2005

3

12

2010

1

4

1

2017

1

2013

2

5

2014

33

20152011 2012

55

11

Quality of l i fe, sustainabi l i ty and social cohesion

Introduction

With a consolidated trajectory in terms of participa-tive strategic planning, commitment to environmen-tal sustainability and economic and social inclusion, Barcelona has become involved in promoting the UN’s Agenda 2030, which sets out 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) which humanity should achieve by 2030, while also seeking alliances with oth-er cities, governments and stakeholders in order to tackle climate change and reduce inequalities, among other shared goals. During the 2019-2023 term of of-fice, Barcelona City Council’s official commitment to sustainable development goals is shown by both the municipal government's structure —with the creation of a Deputy Mayor's Office for Agenda 2030, Digital Transition, Sport and Metropolitan and Territorial Co-ordination and the Agenda 2030 Comissioner— and the alignment of municipal policies with Agenda 2030 —starting with the action plan for this term of office— and the fostering of alliances with civil society and economic sectors that reinvest in order to improve the quality of people's lives, improve social cohesion and create a city that is more respectful towards the environment.

Regarding the areas associated with a good quality of life in 2019, Barcelona is ranked 8th among the cit-ies of the world in terms of work-life balance, accord-ing to Cities for the Best Work-Life Balance 2019, which highlights areas such as LGBT and equality (where Barcelona comes 4th), holiday days (1st), well-being and fitness (7th) and travel time to work (8th). Mean-while, Barcelona is considered to be the 26th safest city in the world, according to The Safe Cities Index 2019. Regarding digital security, it should be noted that Barcelona heads the Cities Coalition for Digital Rights, along with New York and Amsterdam —which include the rights of privacy, data protection and se-curity—, and it has the support of the UN-Habitat, Eurocities and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Barcelona is also a leading city in the field of sport —coming 7th in the 2019 Ranking of Sports Cities—, an activity that, as well as contributing directly to the quality ofpeople'slives,alsohasasignificanteconomicandso-

cial impact. The city is also a benchmark for its cultural and creative vitality, according to the results of The 2018 Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor, produced by the Eu-ropean Commission, where it comes 9th in the creative intensity index.

The economic crisis that began in 2008 led to a no-table increase in the levels of inequality, poverty and social exclusion in many European countries and re-gions. In Barcelona, the weighting of average incomes decreased while territorial inequalities increased. However, from 2015 onwards, these differencesstopped growing. In 2017, in the city's neighbour-hoods, the quotient between the highest and lowest gross available income per inhabitant was 6.4, and over half of Barcelona's resident population (52.9% of the total) lives in an average-income neighbourhood, forthefirsttimesince2009.InCataloniaasawhole,the number of people at risk of poverty or social ex-clusion is lower than the European Union average for 2018, and both are lower compared to the previous year'sfigures.

In the area of sustainability, Barcelona is listed 22nd in the environmental aspect of the 2018 edition of the Sustainable Cities Index, produced by Arcadis —with good results for the indicators concerning green-house gas emissions and access to drinking water and sanitation— and 15th in Europe and 21st in the world in the 2017 Sustainable Mobility Index.

BARCELONA OBSERVATORY REPORT 2019 33 Quality of life, sustainability and social cohesion

Barcelona is one of the top-ten cities in the world

in terms of best work-life balance

Best Work-life balance in world cities in 2019


Barcelona is one of the top-ten cities in the world in terms of work-life balance

Work-Life Balance Index. 2019

Global ranking City Total score

Source: Kisi. Cities for the Best Work-Life Balance 2019.

Helsinki

Munich

Oslo

Hamburg

Stockholm

Berlin

Zurich

Barcelona

Paris

Vancouver

Ottawa

London

Toronto

Budapest

Sydney

Milan

San Diego

Melbourne

Portland

San Francisco

New York

Boston

Seattle

Las Vegas

Denver

Los Angeles

Austin

Washington D.C.

Chicago

São Paulo

100.0

98.3

95.3

93.6

89.1

88.8

84.1

82.2

77.8

72.6

72.1

72.0

66.3

66.2

59.1

57.5

54.8

53.4

51.5

51.0

49.5

47.4

45.7

43.8

43.2

41.6

40.5

40.4

37.7

37.5

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

According to the 2019 Cities for the Best Work-Life Balance, produced by Kisi, the safe technological access compa-ny, in 2019, Barcelona was 8th among forty world cities compared using 20 indicators, concerning work intensity, social services and official support for equality and quali-ty of life. Barcelona obtained a better result than Vancou-ver, London, Milan and San Francisco, while coming close to Zurich and Paris. It was bettered by the Scandinavian capitals, which are among the first five cities in this index, as well as by some German cities.

In the set of indicators relating to work intensity, Barce-lona stands out, being ranked 1st as the city with most holiday days (30.5 days) and 8th for travel time to work, but it comes in an intermediate position (22nd) for paid maternity or paternity leave. Regarding the institutional and social areas, it is ranked 4th in the LGTB and equali-ty index, 10th for social expenditure and 16th for gender equality. Lastly, among the most relevant indicators for quality of life, Barcelona is ranked 7th in the well-being and fitness index, while for air pollutants, it comes in the lower part of the ranking, in 27th place.

Source: Kisi. Cities for the Best Work-Life Balance 2019.

Positioning of Barcelona. 2019

Holiday days

Paid maternity/paternity leave

Travel time to work

Gender equality

Global work-life balance index

LGTB and equality index

Social expenditure

Well-being and fitness index

Air pollutants

1

22

8

8

4

16

10

7

27

Safety in cities around the world in 2019

According to the Safe Cities Index 2019, a report pro-duced by the British magazine The Economist, Barcelona was ranked 26th out of 60 cities across all continents, in a list topped by Tokyo, Singapore and Osaka. It came 10th among European cities, behind Amsterdam, Stockholm and Paris, and ahead of Milan and Rome. In the previous edition —produced in 2017— Barcelona came 13th in the world ranking; all in all, Barcelona's score in the 2019 in-dex (81.2) is 10 points above the average, and it was in the top half of the cities analysed.

The report's results are based on 57 indicators covering digital security, health security, infrastructure security and personal security. It should be noted that Barcelona is ranked 3rd in terms of infrastructure security, an area in which the city maintains the good position it achieved in the 2017 ranking. The aspects taken into account include investment in and management of the city's infrastruc-tures and its vulnerability to natural disasters. Regarding the other areas analysed, the city came 19th in personal security —above cities such as Paris, London and Milan—, 24th in the area of health security and 28th in digital securi-ty, dropping 2, 8 and 7 places respectively, in comparison to the previous ranking.


Barcelona is among the thirty safest cities in the world

Safety in cities around the world. 2019

Position City Index o/100

Source: The Safe Cities Index 2019. The Economist Intelligence Unit.

Tokyo

Singapore

Osaka

Amsterdam

Sydney

Toronto

Washington D.C.

Copenhagen

Seoul

Melbourne

Chicago

Stockholm

San Francisco

London

New York

Frankfurt

Los Angeles

Wellington

Zurich

Hong Kong

Dallas

Taipei

Paris

Brussels

Madrid

Barcelona

Abu Dhabi

Dubai

Milan

Rome

Average

Beijing

Shanghai

92.0

91.5

90.9

88.0

87.9

87.8

87.6

87.4

87.4

87.3

86.7

86.5

85.9

85.7

85.5

85.4

85.2

84.5

84.5

83.7

83.1

82.5

82.4

82.1

81.4

81.2

79.5

79.1

78.1

76.4

71.2

70.5

70.2

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

2018 2019

Source: The Safe Cities Index 2019, The Economist Intelligence Unit.

Global index

13 26

Personal security

17 19

Digital

28

Infrastructures

3 3

Health

2416

21

Urban security categories(position of Barcelona)

Sport in cities around the world 2019

For the second year running, Barcelona is ranked 7th among the 50 cities evaluated in the Ranking of Sports Cities 2019, produced by Burson Cohn and Wolfe1 based on a vote where specialist opinion leaders and the general public decide which cities are most strongly associated with sport.

The city has maintained a position among the top ten since the first edition (2012), a record shared only by oth-er Olympic cities such as London and Tokyo. The impor-tance of Barcelona as a city for international sport stems from the fact that it periodically hosts high level interna-tional sports events, the legacy of the 1992 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the attention generated by major clubs in the city, all of which make Barcelona a top sports tourism destination.

Sport has a great economic and social impact on the city and contributes to a direct improvement in the quality of city residents’ lives. According to the 2017 Sports Habits Survey in Barcelona, 71.6% of the people interviewed do sport, which is an increase of 16 percent in comparison with the figures for 2013. By gender, 74.4% of men and 69.2% of women do sport, and by age, it should be not-ed that among young people, doing sport is the norm, with over 80% of people between the ages of 17 and 35 actively doing sport.


Barcelona, the 7th city most associated with sport

London

Los Angeles

Paris

Tokyo

Lausanne

New York

BarcelonaMadrid

Beijing

Manchester

Sydney

Chicago

London

Los Angeles

Paris

Lausanne

Tokyo

Sydney

BarcelonaNew York

Beijing

Chicago

Madrid

Manchester

City Position 2018 Position 2019

Source: Ranking of Sports Cities 2019. Burson, Cohn&Wolfe.

Sport in cities round the world. 2019

2

3

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

9

10

20

29

35

1

4

1The 2019 ranking was produced by Burson Cohn, using the same metho-dology employed in previous years by Around the Rings and TS Consulting.

Asia and Oceania America BarcelonaEurope


Creative and cultural cities of Europe, 2017

Barcelona among the top ten creative and cultural cities in Europe

Barcelona is ranked 9th in the European index of creative vibrancy, according to the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor 2018, an instrument created by the European Commission. It includes a wide range of indicators for 168 cities in 30 European countries, which are actively com-mitted to promoting culture and creativity. With this tool, the Commission seeks to emphasise the importance of culture and creativity for life in cities, for their resilience as well as their development, since a clear correlation has been detected between cultural activity, in its broadest sense, and economic growth.

The report presents the results by groups of cities, based on population size. It analyses aspects relating to cultur-al vibrancy, the creative economy and an enabling envi-ronment, and it groups them in a global index of creative vibrancy, which is headed by Paris, Munich and Prague, among cities with over one million inhabitants.

Barcelona scores well for cultural vibrancy, being ranked 3rd for cultural facilities, only coming behind Prague and Paris. In this section, the city came 1st for cinema seats, 3rd for concerts and shows, 4th for museums and 5th for mu-seum visitors. It is ranked 5th for monuments and places of interest and 6th for theatres.

As regards the creative economy, Barcelona scored well in jobs in creative sectors —ahead of London and Berlin, but behind Amsterdam and Munich— and scored less well in intellectual property and innovation. In the enabling-en-vironment section, Barcelona came 2nd in Human Capital and Education, just behind Paris, among cities with more than one million inhabitants.

The report on Barcelona highlights the city's museums, which receive millions of visitors each year —the Picasso Museum, the Joan Miró Foundation and Museum of Con-temporary Art— and also mentions the more than 170 cultural festivals held each year, many of international standing, such as the Sónar and Primavera Sound festivals. It also mentions the fact that the city designs strategies and measures to support a creative city model —the Cre-ation Factories programme— in order to promote creative

entrepreneurship —mentioning the Canòdrom Creative Industries Research Park— and to use public areas as cul-tural venues —as in the case of the MAC (Carrer street art festival and the Llum Barcelona Light Festival—.

Creative and Cultural Cities. 2017

Position City Creative vibrancy index

Source: Cultural and Creatives Cities Monitor 2018. Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.

Paris

Munich

Prague

Milan

Brussels

Vienna

London

Berlin

Barcelona

Budapest

63

42

38

38

36

35

35

35

33

30

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

NB: Cities with more than one million inhabitants.

Source: Cultural and Creatives Cities Monitor 2018. Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.

Cultural vibrancy (positioning of Barcelona by categories). 2017

Monuments and points of interest

Stay

Museums

Museum visitors

Cinema seats

Concerts and shows

Theatres

3

3

6

1

4

5

5


Population at risk of poverty or social exclusion in European regions in 2018

Population at risk of poverty or social exclusion. 2018

Country Region (principal city) AROPE rate (%)

Czech Republic

Slovakia

Finland

Sweden

Poland

Italy

Germany

Norway

Netherlands

Spain

Switzerland

Spain

Denmark

Ireland

Romania

EU-28 average (e)

Bulgaria

Germany

Spain

Austria

Italy

Greece

8.5

8.6

10.6

13.9

15.5

15.7

16.1

16.9

17.9

18.9

18.9

19.0

19.7

20.9

21.4

21.7

23.0

24.1

26.1

26.7

27.5

28.3

Prague (Prague)

Bratislavský kraj (Bratislava)*

Helsinki-Uusimaa (Helsinki)

Stockholm (Stockholm)

Centralny region (Warsaw)*

Lombardy (Milan)

Bavaria (Munich)*

Oslo og Akershus (Oslo)

Netherlands-West (Amsterdam)

Catalonia (Barcelona)

Espace Mittelland (Berna)

Madrid Community

Hovedstaden (Copenhagen)

Ireland-south and east (Dublin)*

Bucuresti - Ilfov (Bucharest)

Bulgaria - south-west (Sofia)

Berlin (Berlin)*

Vienna (Vienna)*

Lazio (Rome)

Attica (Athens)

*Datafrom2017 (e)EstimateNB: The ‘At Risk of Poverty or Social Exclusion’ rate (AROPE) indicates the percentage of the population that is in at least one of the following circum-stances: at risk of poverty, in a situation of severe material deprivation or living in households with very low work intensity.

Source: Eurostat

The percentage of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion in Catalonia, lower than in the European Union

According to Eurostat figures, the percentage of the population at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE) in Catalonia was 18.9% in 2018. This is lower than the rate for Spain (26.1%) and the European Union (21.7%). Re-gions with higher rates than Catalonia include Dublin, Berlin and Vienna, while the regions with similar values in-clude Amsterdam and Bern. Regions such as Prague and Helsinki have the lowest rates in the sample, with values between 8.5% and 11%. It should be noted that the rate for Catalonia has gone down by 0.5% compared to the previous year, a similar decrease to that of the Spanish and European averages.

If we calculate the percentage of the population at risk of poverty based on the specific threshold for Catalonia (60% of the average annual disposable income of the Catalan population, after social transfers, rather than the state-wide average), the AROPE rate stands at 24.7%,2 which is 0.9% higher than the figure for the previous year and also above the average for the European Union. Similarly, the 2017 AROPE rate for the Barcelona Metropolitan Area is 24.7%, while it is 23.1% for Barcelona in 2017.

One of the components of the AROPE rate is severe mate-rial deprivation.3 According to the Municipal Data Office, this type of deprivation affects 5.9% of households in the City of Barcelona —similar to the average rate for the Eu-ropean Union— and the phenomenon is more intense in households consisting of a mother or father with children (12.1%) and those sustained by women (7.5%).

2Data from Idescat.

3The population suffering from severe material deprivation includes those people whose living conditions are restricted by a lack of resources and who cannot afford at least 4 out of the following 9 items: paying their rent, mort-gage or public-service bills, keeping their home adequately warm, meeting unexpected expenses, eating meat or protein regularly, going on holiday, having a car, having a washing machine, having a colour TV set or having a telephone.

Sustainable Cities in the world in 2018

Barcelona, among the 25 most sustainable cities in the world

Barcelona is ranked 22nd in the environmental pillar of the Arcadis’ Sustainable Cities Index 2018, gaining one position compared to the 2016 result. The ranking com-pares 100 world cities, taking into account factors such as environmental risks, green areas, energy, air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, waste management, access to drinking water and sanitation, as well as incentives for electric vehicles. Barcelona achieved a similar score to New York, Manchester and Rome. It obtained its best re-sults in relation to greenhouse gas emissions and access to drinking water and sanitation. Its score for percentage of green areas in the city was less favourable.

Regarding the general index for sustainable cities –which in addition to the environment (planet), also analyses the aspects of quality of life (people) and the economic sit-uation and prospects (profit)– Barcelona is ranked 28th, a drop of four places compared to the previous edition. It comes 24th in the quality of life aspect and 47th for the economy aspect. With these results, the report places Barcelona in the Balanced Innovators group, which also offer good quality of life, connectivity and economic pros-perity. It is also where the use of technology will be a key factor for making progress in sustainability and the well-being of city residents.

Furthermore, Barcelona is recognised for its model of sustainable mobility, and is ranked 15th in Europe and 21st in the world in the Sustainable Mobility Index 2017, coming above cities such as Berlin, New York and Madrid in a clas-sification headed by Hong Kong, Zurich and Paris.

Sustainability Index. 2018

Global position City Position in the environmental pillar

Source: Arcadis, Citizen Centric Cities. The Sustainable Cities Index 2018.

Stockholm

Frankfurt

Zurich

Vienna

Copenhagen

Oslo

Hamburg

Berlin

Munich

Montreal

London

Geneva

Ottawa

Toronto

Madrid

Amsterdam

Vancouver

Edinburgh

Glasgow

New York

Manchester

Barcelona

New Orleans

Rome

Paris

Seattle

Birmingham

Leeds

Boston

Seoul

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

2

10

6

5

11

8

17

18

7

31

1

36

25

30

21

12

26

3

32

14

29

28

61

40

15

19

38

50

22

13


Country Region (principal city) AROPE rate (%)

Labour market and training

Introduction

Economic activity in the European Union and the Euro Zone grew moderately in 2018, a favourable evolution that was also observed in the job market. This meant that all member states experienced an improvement in employment rates. In the case of Catalonia, at the end of 2018, the job market had a year-on-year in-crease in employment of more than 75,000 people and a year-on-year decrease in the unemployed pop-ulation of nearly 28,000, according to the Active Pop-ulation Survey published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). However, as the figures presented in the report show, the employment rate in the region is below the European average while the unemployment rate is significantly above the EU average, despite hav-ing decreased since 2013.

In this context, Barcelona created net employment for the fifth consecutive year in 2018, following the adjustment resulting from the job market crisis. Ac-cording to data from the Municipal Statistics Depart-ment, the city closed the fourth quarter of the year with 33,400 more people registered with Social Secu-rity than in the previous year, an activity rate of 79% (among those aged 16 to 64) and an employment rate of 70.9% —which exceed the European averages by 5.2 and 2 percent, respectively— while the unemploy-ment rate stayed at around 10%, reaching the lowest figure since 2008.

The part-time employment rate in Catalonia was 14.1% in 2018, which puts it 6 points below the EU average (20.1%) and slightly below the Spanish aver-age (14.6%). The part-time employment rate in Cata-lonia is higher for women than for men and the over-all total, while also being below the Spanish average and especially the EU-28 average. The increase in the part-time employment rate since the start of the crisis is a widespread trend in Europe, within an interna-tional context in which the impact this kind of working day has had on job quality is particularly marked.

By means of the Barcelona Employment Strategy 2016-2020, Barcelona City Council promotes quality

jobs for everyone, in agreement with all the stake-holders in the city who are involved. Based on four priority lines of intervention, an employment action plan is being implemented which promotes an in-crease in the coordination and agreement of poli-cies that foster employment and an increase in the actions that address the city's social diversity. At the same time, employment has been placed at the heart of municipal policy, with the council making employment a priority across all departments, along with its focus on adapting the city's services to the specific needs of city residents.

One of Barcelona's key assets is a significant critical mass of skilled human capital. In this area, it should be noted that in 2018, the percentage of the work-ing population with a tertiary education in Catalonia rose to 46.9% and, in the case of women, the figure was above 50% for the fourth time. These values are clearly above the European Union average. Barcelo-na is the 5th most attractive city in the world for dig-ital talent wishing to work abroad, according to the report Decoding Global Talent 2019 from the Boston Consulting Group, coming just behind London, New York, Berlin and Amsterdam.

Lastly, Barcelona continues to be a benchmark as a city of excellence for business training, as it is the only city in Europe with two teaching institutions (IESE and ESADE) among the ten best business schools on the continent, according to the Financial Times.

BARCELONA OBSERVATORY REPORT 2019 43 Labour market and training

Barcelona, among the five

most attractive cities for digital talent

Attractiveness of cities around the world for digital talent 2019


According to Decoding Digital Talent 2019 by the Boston Consulting Group, Barcelona is the 5th most attractive city in the world for digital experts who wish to work abroad, coming just above Dubai, Los Angeles and Paris. The rank-ing is led by London and New York, who also lead the at-tractiveness table for global talent in 2018. In fact, the first nine cities are the same in both classifications, although Barcelona and Amsterdam swap position from 4th to 5th places in the two rankings.

The study was based on the identification of digital tal-ent —experts in data, programming and web develop-ment, digital marketing, digital design, developing mobile applications, artificial intelligence, robotics and automa-tion— who answered the online Global Talent Survey. Over 26,000 people responded. The report shows that two thirds (67%) of digital experts would be willing to work in other countries, while in the report on global talent, this figure was only 57%. The aspects that digital experts value most in terms of employment are a good work-life balance and the opportunity to learn and receive training. The re-port also highlights that for public institutions, the priori-ties are the development of an attractive environment for workers in this field, detecting any digital talent gaps and fostering specialised technological training programmes in their territory.

Barcelona, among the five most attractive cities for digital talent

Digital experts 2019 Global Talent 2018

Source: Decoding Global Talent 2019. Boston Consulting Group.

Comparison of positioning of cities in work attractiveness

Barcelona

54

Amsterdam

4 5

Paris

88

Sydney

99

Berlin

33

New York

22


Source: Decoding Global Talent 2019. Boston Consulting Group.

Most attractive world cities to work abroad

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

London

New York

Berlin

Amsterdam

Barcelona

Dubai

Los Angeles

Paris

Sydney

Abu Dhabi

Tokyo

Toronto

San Francisco

Zurich

Singapore

Munich

Vienna

Washington DC

Melbourne

Brussels

Madrid

Vancouver

Boston

Stockholm

Geneva

Chicago

Hong Kong

Rome

Copenhagen

Montreal

1

2

3

5

4

6

7

8

9

14

10

12

29

18

15

23

13

20

16

17

11

24

27

28

22

25

26

19

–

30

2018 position City 2019 positionGlobal talent ranking Digital experts ranking

Employment rate in European regions in 2018


Employment rate (%)

Catalonia Spain EU-28

Source: Eurostat.

2018

67.9

62.4

68.6

In 2018, the employment rate in the European Union grew by one percent compared to 2017, as a result of moder-ate increases in most of the regions under analysis.

Along the same lines, the employment rate in Catalonia and Spain increased for the fourth consecutive year, with an annual growth —of 1.0 and 1.3 percent respectively— that is similar to the average EU growth rate. However, employment rates here are still among the lowest on the continent, due to the sharp decrease experienced from 2008 to 2013. According to Eurostat, the average employ-ment rate in Catalonia was 67.9% in 2018, placing it below the European average (68.6%) for the tenth consecutive year, although it is much higher than the rate for Spain (5.5% higher) and is also above that of regions such as Mi-lan, Vienna and Brussels. The employment rate for women also rose by 1 point to 63.8% in Catalonia in 2018, placing it slightly above the European average (63.3%) and much higher than the Spanish average (56.9%), although it still lags far behind the regions with the highest rates on the continent (where the figure is over 70%) and it also below the rate for the population as a whole.

In the 4th quarter of 2018, the employment rate stood at 70.9% in Barcelona, a decrease of 1.2% compared to the same period in 2017. The city's employment rate for women (67.4%) is more than 4 percent above the Europe-an average. Regarding the data for 2019, the employment rate for Barcelona and for Catalonia rose to 71.9% and 70.1%, respectively, in the third quarter.

The employment rate rises in Catalonia

2011

64.2

58.0

63.0

2016

65.5

59.5

66.6

2017

66.9

61.1

67.6

2013

64.1

54.8

59.8

2012

64.1

60.1

55.8

2010

64.1

58.8

63.7

2015

57.8

65.6

63.1

2014

56.0

64.8

61.9


NB: Active population between the ages of 15 and 64.The original database contains around 450 regions but the table only shows a selection of benchmark regions.

Source: Eurostat

Employment rate in European regions. 2018

79.7

76.5

72.1

74.2

74.8

75.1

74.1

72.4

70.9

71.1

73.0

71.2

68.0

69.4

71,6

65.1

66.6

69.5

64.7

65.3

63.3

63.8

64.7

63.5

59.6

63.0

63.6

56.9

53.1

56.4

52.4

Stockholm (STOCKHOLM)

Upper Bavaria (MUNICH)

Prague (PRAGUE)

Stuttgart (STUTTGART)

North Holland (AMSTERDAM)

Denmark (COPENHAGEN)

Oslo (OSLO)

Eastern Scotland (EDINBURGH)

South Holland (ROTTERDAM)

Darmstadt (FRANKFURT)

Southern Finland (HELSINKI)

Berlin (BERLIN)

London (LONDON)

Greater Manchester (MANCHESTER)

Lithuania (VILNIUS)

Central Hungary (BUDAPEST)

Mazowsze (WARSAW)

Lisbon (LISBON)

Middle and East (DUBLIN)

Rhône-Alpes (LYON)

EUROPEAN UNION

Catalonia (BARCELONA)

Île-de-France (PARIS)

Community of Madrid (MADRID)

Lombardy (MILAN)

Vienna (VIENNA)

Basque Country (BILBAO)

Spain

Lazio (ROME)

Languedoc-Roussillon (MONTPELLIER)

Brussels (BRUSSELS)

80.4

80.3

79.6

79.1

78.0

76.9

76.5

76.1

75.6

75.3

74.7

74.3

74.1

73.0

72.4

72.0

71.8

71.3

70.2

69.3

68.6

67.9

67.8

67.8

67.7

66.8

66.7

62.4

60.9

59.9

56.8

Employment rate Region (CITY) Employment rate (%)for women (%)

Part-time employment rate in European regions. (%)


Source: Eurostat

2018

14.614.1

20.1

2011

19.5

13.613.4

2016

15,214,2

20,4

2017

15.014.3

20.3

2013

20.4

15.815.3

2012

20.0

13.8

14.5

2010

19.2

13.012.3

2015

15.7

20.4

13.9

2014

15.9

20.4

15.3


Part-time employment rate in European regions in 2018

In Catalonia the part-time employment rate, which meas-ures the weighting of people working part-time out of the total working population, stood at 14.1% in 2018, placing it 6 points below the EU average (20.1%), slightly below the Spanish average (14.6%) and far below the regions with the highest rates (those from Holland, Austria, Ger-many and Denmark), although it is above the regions of Madrid, Lisbon and various Eastern European cities. As regards the part-time employment rate for women (which in all the regions analysed is higher than the figure for men, and the overall total), in Catalonia this stands at 22%, which is 10% below the EU average (32%), 2 points below the rate for Spain (24%) and once again, far below the regions of the top countries in the ranking (Holland, Austria, Germany and Denmark) where the rate of volun-tary part-time work among women is much higher.

Regarding the evolution of the part-time employment rate, between 2007 and 2013, after the beginning of the crisis, it significantly increased in the European Union, Spain and Catalonia, while from 2013 onwards it became quite stable, albeit with a slightly downward trend. It should be noted that part-time work is one of the forms of work adopted as the job market has become more flex-ible, and in most European countries it has also involved an increase in the percentage of non-voluntary part-time work. In 2018, this affected a quarter of part-time workers in the European Union.

In the fourth quarter of 2018, the total rate of part-time work in the City of Barcelona was 14.6%, similar to the fig-ure for Catalonia and Spain, but lower than the European Union. In the case of women, the city rate (18.8%) is 2.2 percent below the Catalan figure, which means it is also below the percentage for Spain, and especially that of the EU as a whole.

Part-time employment rates in Catalonia are below the European average

* 2017 Data

Source: Eurostat

Part-time employment rate in European regions. 2018

70.4

73.4

41.3

46.3

49.9

36.4

42.8

34.1

44.5

35.4

32.2

35.4

28.9

33.7

32.0

34.0

32.0

32.7

32.6

28.6

32.4

26.2

25.9

19.3

24.0

21.3

22.0

16.9

20.1

16.2

11.9

10.6

10.8

8.9



Vienna (VIENNA)



Berlin (BERLIN)





Oslo (OSLO)



London (LONDON)

Brussels (BRUSSELS)

Rhône-Alpes (LYON)

EUROPEAN UNION

Provence-Alps-Cote d’Azur (MARSEILLE)

Lazio (ROME)

South and East Ireland (DUBLIN)

Lombardy (MILAN)


Community of Valencia (VALENCIA)


Spain



Bucuresti - Ilfov (BUCHAREST)


Prague (PRAGUE)

Lisbon (LISBON)

Lithuania (VILNIUS)*

Latvia (RIGA)

Mazowsze (WARSAW)

50.1

49.3

28.6

28.2

28.0

27.1

27.0

26.3

26.2

23.5

23.2

23.0

22.2

22.1

21.2

20.9

20.1

20.1

19.6

19.1

18.0

16.3

16.0

15.4

14.6

14.6

14.1

13.5

13.1

10.9

9.7

8.6

8.1

7.0

Part-time employment Region (CITY) Part-time employmentrate for women (%) rate (%)


Unemployment rate in European regions in 2018

NB: Population over 15 years.The original database contains around 450 regions but the table only shows a selection of benchmark regions.

Source: Eurostat

*Year 2017

Unemployment rate in European regions. 2018

1.9

2.0

2.0

2.6

3.7

3.4

3.6

3.8

4.3

4.8

5.5

5,3

5.5

5.7

5.5

5.4

4.2

7.1

6.6

7.3

7.8

8.4

9.9

8.7

11.9

12.1

11.8

12.9

11.8

17.0

24.9

1.3

2.3

2.3

3.1

3.8

3.9

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.7

5.3

5.4

5.6

5.6

6.1

6.2

6.7

6.9

6.9

7.3

7.5

8.8

10.0

10.0

11.2

11.5

11.7

12.2

13.2

15.3

19.9

Prague (PRAGUE)






Hamburg (HAMBURG)



London (LONDON)


Estonia (TALLINN)


South and East Ireland (DUBLIN)

Berlin (BERLIN)

Lithuania (VILNIUS)

South-west Scotland (GLASGOW)*

EUROPEAN UNION


Rhône-Alpes (LYON)

Lisbon (LISBON)



Vienna (VIENNA)

Lazio (ROME)




Brussels (BRUSSELS)

Spain

Attica (ATHENS)

Female Region (CITY) Unemploymentunemployment rate (%)rate (%)

The economic recovery in the European Union meant that it ended 2018 with an unemployment rate of 6.9%, which is 0.7% lower than in 2017. Unemployment is still being felt more acutely in the territories of Southern Europe, such as Spain and Catalonia, although the differential in relation to the European average has decreased com-pared to 2017, with an annual fall of 1.9 percent in both territorial areas.

The average annual unemployment rate in Catalonia was 11.5% in 2018, which is 4.6% above the European average and still far higher than in the main benchmark regions, although it remains below the Spanish average (15.3%). At the same time, the unemployment rate for women was 12.1%, which is 2.3 points lower than in 2017, although it is above the overall average.

In the fourth quarter of 2018, the unemployment rate in Barcelona stood at 10.3%, after being almost stable in year-on-year terms (+0.3%). In the first quarters of 2019, the city's unemployment rate was under 10% and is clos-er to the European rate than the Spanish one.

The rate of unemployment in Catalonia has fallen, but is still much higher than the European average


Unemployment rate (%)

Source: Eurostat

2010

9.7

20.0

17.8

2012

10.6

24.9

22.7

2013

11.0

26.2

23.2

2015

9.6

22.2

18.7

2016

8.7

19.7

15.8

2017

7.8

17.3

13.5

2018

6.9

15.3

11.5

2005

9.19.2

7.0


Working population with tertiary education in European regions in 2018

NB: Percentage (%) of the population between 25 and 64 years of age with universityqualification.The original database contains around 450 regions but the table only shows a selection of benchmark regions.

Source: Eurostat *Year2017

Working population with a university education in European regions. 2018

63.8

62.6

63.6

59.8

63.3

59.4

59.6

57.0

55.5

58.4

57.4

53.4

50.3

53.3

47.6

51.7

52.1

48.9

54.4

49.7

49.4

45.2

48.2

49.9

37.5

47.3

48.9

41.7

33.9

41.1

41.9

41.9

61.6

58.6

58.4

56.7

56.4

54.7

54.2

53.9

53.0

52.9

51.4

49.4

48.1

48,1

47.2

47.0

46.9

46.6

46.3

44.4

43.7

43.1

43.0

42.8

42.4

40.7

38.6

38.6

36.9

36.8

36.6

36.2

London (LONDON)

Brussels Region - capital (BRUSSELS)

Oslo og Akershus (OSLO)



Eastern Scotland (EDINBURGH)*




Denmark capital (COPENHAGEN)

South and East Ireland (DUBLIN)*


Vienna (AT)(VIENNA)

Attica (ATHENS)

Prague (PRAGUE)

South-west Scotland (GLASGOW)*

Catalonia

Berlin (BERLIN)

Lithuania (VILNIUS)*

Bucuresti - Ilfov (BUCHAREST)

Spain

South Holland (THE HAGUE)


South-west Bulgaria (BG) (SOFIA)



Latvia (RIGA)

Central Hungary (BUDAPEST)*


EUROPEAN UNION

West Midlands (BIRMINGHAM)

Lisbon (LISBON)

Women Region (CITY) Total number ofworkers with working peopleuniversity with university degree (%) degree (%)

According to Eurostat figures for 2018, 46.9% of the work-ing population in Catalonia had a university degree, which is an increase of 1.1% on the previous year. This is much higher than the average for the European Union (36.8%) and higher than benchmark regions such as Munich, Man-chester and Berlin, as well as being above the average for Spain (43.7%).

The percentage of female Catalan workers with a univer-sity education was above 50% for the fourth year running, standing at 52.1%, an increase of 1 percent over 2017. This rate, which again is higher than the total, is much higher than the rate for the European Union (41.1%), as well as that of the benchmark European regions men-tioned above and the Spanish average (49.4%).

These results highlight the progressive increase in the number of people with higher education qualifications in Catalonia in recent years, which we need to continue working on in order to reach the standards of the work-forces in northern European regions.

More than half of workers in Catalonia have a university education


Source: Eurostat

20162015

20172018

50.4

51.451.4

50.0South-east Ireland (Dublín)

39.6

41.442.4

40.5Upper Bavaria(Munich)

44.6

45.846.9

43.5Catalonia(Barcelona)

22.6

23.824.6

22.6Lombardy(Milan)

Working population with a university degree(% out of total employed population)

North Holland(Amsterdam) 48.5

49.4

47.146.6

Best European business schools in 2019

OBSERVATORI BARCELONA 2019 52 Labour market and training

According to the Financial Times ranking of the top 100 full-time MBA programmes, which it has been compiling for the last nineteen years, Barcelona’s IESE and ESADE business schools are ranked 3rd and 7th in the Europe-an ranking, above such well-known schools as the SDA Bocconi in Milan and the Warwick Business School. This means that Barcelona is the only city with two teaching centres in the top ten European MBA business schools in 2019, for the seventh year running. Furthermore, these two institutions are among the top twenty-five schools worldwide, with the IESE in 12th place and ESADE com-ing 21st. In relation to the previous year’s results, the IESE has maintained its position and ESADE has dropped two positions in the European ranking, while they have both dropped one place in the world ranking.

Moreover, according to the 2019 edition of Which MBA?, the full-time MBA ranking published by The Economist In-telligence Unit for the last sixteen years, the IESE comes 2nd in the European ranking and is 10th in the world, while ESADE is ranked 9th in Europe and 40th in the world.

Year after year these indicators consolidate Barcelona's position as a city of excellence and as a focus of attraction for business training on the international stage.

Barcelona is the only city with two centres in Europe’s top ten MBA business schools

Positioning in the European ranking

IESE Business School ESADE Business School

Source: Global MBA Ranking, Financial Times.

2019

65

2017

5

3 3

2018

7

4

2009

8

4

2010

7

4

2011

12

4

2012

8

3

2013

7

3

8

3

2014 2015

87 7

2016

9

5

2008

Best European business schools. 2019

European ranking World rankingBusiness school City

Source: Global MBA Ranking 2019. Financial Times.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

3

6

12

13

16

19

21

22

31

32

36

39

43

55

59

64

69

71

76

77

79

80

86

87

89

91

93

Insead

London Business School

Iese Business School

University of Oxford: Saïd

University of Cambridge: Judge

HEC Paris

Esade Business School

IMD

IE Business School

SDA Bocconi

Warwick Business School

Imperial College Business School

Durham University Business School

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University

Alliance Manchester Business School

City, University of London: Cass

Universität St. Gallen

WHU - Otto Beisheim

Cranfield School of Management

Mannheim Business School

ESMT - European School of Management and Technology

EMLYON Business School

The Lisbon MBA

University of Edinburgh Business School

University College Dublin: Smurfit

Lancaster University Management School

ESSEC Business School

Fontainebleau

London

Barcelona

Oxford

Cambridge

Paris

Barcelona

Lausanne

Madrid

Milan

Coventry

London

Durham

Rotterdam

Manchester

London

St. Gallen

Dusseldorf

Cranfield

Mannheim

Berlin

Lyon

Lisbon

Edinburgh

Dublin

Lancaster

Paris


Knowledge society

BARCELONA OBSERVATORY REPORT 2019 57 Knowledge society

Introduction

Barcelona is a leading international city in the use of technologies as a means of developing smart manage-ment in cities, as is shown in various rankings that list it among the top places. According to the new study by Juniper Research, Smart cities: leading platforms, analysis of segments and forecasts 2019-2023, Barcelona leads the world in termsof the impactof its trafficmanagementinnovations on city residents, thanks to its investment in smarttrafficsolutions,infrastructuresandelectricvehiclecharging policies, aimed at improving the quality of its air and reducing the use of private vehicles. These results are in line with the Cities in Motion 2019 smart cities rank-ing compiled by IESE, which places Barcelona 28th out of a total of 174 cities, and it is well positioned in terms of international projection (11th) and mobility and transport (12th).

Similarly, Barcelona is ahead of other European cities as a focus of technological entrepreneurship. In fact, accord-ing to the Startup Heatmap Europe Report 2019, for the third year running, Barcelona is the 3rd most popular city for establishing a start-up, out of more than 100 Europe-an cities. According to the European Commission, Barce-lona is also the 7th city in Europe with regard to the num-ber of scale-ups and, furthermore, it is among the top four non-capital European cities with the highest number of technological entrepreneur companies in their respec-tive countries. Barcelona registers nearly 50% of all tech-nological scale-ups in Spain and 62% of the increase in capital invested in Spain in 2018. Furthermore, Barcelona appears among the top thirty cities in Startup Genome's 2019 Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking forthefirsttimeand it also appears in the Center for American Entrepre-neurship’s New Map of Entrepreneurship and Venture Cap-ital 2018 as an Advanced Global Start-up Hub, along with the European cities of Amsterdam, Dublin and Helsinki, coming just behind the Superstar and Elite categories.

Barcelona’s position as a technological hub is also demonstrated by the technological congresses held there and the projects set up to keep these synergies active. As the Mobile World Capital, the leading interna-tionalcityforinnovationandtalentinthefieldofmobiletelephony, Barcelona hosts the Mobile World Congress every year, which attracts over 100,000 professionals; it is also organising the 4YFN, the business platform for the start-up community, for the fourth year running.

The Mobile World Capital (MWC) has also launched The Collider, a programme that aims to create future technological companies and connect entrepreneurs and talent, in order to transform scientific knowledgein terms of technological solutions, and the Innovation Hub, a business platform that enables start-ups, corpo-rations and public institutions to discover, create and launch new initiatives together. The Digital Startup Eco-system Overview 2019, which is published by the MWC, explains that Barcelona is a leading city in the sectors of electronic and mobile commerce. It is ranked as the 5th European city for invested capital and 6th in the number of start-ups in 2018.

In terms of talent, the Catalan job market is character-ised by its rich fabric in added-value sectors. In 2018, Catalonia was once again the 4th European region where mostpeoplewithhigherstudiesworkinthefieldofsci-ence and technology (875,000) and with the most peo-ple working in manufacturing with a high or medium high technological intensity. However, it is ranked 7th for employment in services with high levels of knowledge and cutting-edge technology. Around 30% of those em-ployed in these activities are women.

Inthefieldofscience,thecityisrankedasthe5th Euro-pean city and the 23rdworldwideinscientificacademicproduction, according to the Knowledge Cities Ranking 2018, produced by the UPC's Land Policy and Valuations Centre and it comes 34th out of the world's 200 main sci-entificcities,accordingtotheNature Index 2018 Science Cities.Barcelonaisalsothefirstcityintheworldtocar-ry out a comprehensive diplomatic strategy in science and technology, by means of the public-private platform Scitech Diplohub, and it is committed to being a global influentialplayerintermsoftacklinghumanity'sbigchal-lenges through science and technology.

Barcelona, Europe’s 3rd most popular

city for establishing a start-up


Most popular European cities for establishing a start-up in 2019

According to the fourth edition of Startup Heatmap Europe Report 2019, 18% of start-up founders and members of the technology community would choose Barcelona if they had to embark on a new business project tomorrow, which means that the city retains 3rd place out of 100 Eu-ropean cities for the third year running. The ranking is led by London —where 37% of the people surveyed would begin a business activity tomorrow— followed by Berlin in 2nd place with 34%. Although these two cities have re-tained the top places, they have lost 13 and 17 points, respectively, in the last four years. In comparison with the first edition, Barcelona’s position has not changed, but the number of votes has. In 2016, 7% of start-up founders would have chosen the city, a figure that rose to 20% in 2018, before falling back to 18% in the latest edition. The city continues to lead the ranking for eCommerce start-ups by a wide margin. These three cities, together with the next three below them in the ranking (Paris, Amster-dam and Lisbon), form the core of the European start-up scene, known as the Circle Line. This circle is where most entrepreneur activities and opportunities occur in Europe, as these six hubs account for 75.3% of all the start-up founders in Europe in 2019.

The study mentions how Brexit is dividing Europe, and start-up founders have to choose between two divergent paths, which the second-tier cities are benefiting from. This is the case for Barcelona, which is placed as a central city for exchange among the Southern European hubs, thanks to its strong interrelations with Madrid and Milan, which offer intense industrial connections. The report also highlights Barcelona as one of the most dynamic cit-ies in the Southern European start-up ecosystem, togeth-er with Lisbon, with a key position on the continent and the relations that this allows with the rest of Europe.

For the third year running, Barcelona is the third most popular city for establishing a start-up

Top 10 Start-up Hubs in Europe

Ranking 2018 City Ranking 2019

Source: Startup Heatmap Europe.

London

Berlin

Barcelona

Paris

Amsterdam

Lisbon

Munich

Milan

Tallinn

Stockholm

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1

2

3

4

6

5

7

8

...

...


London

Berlin

Barcelona

Paris

Amsterdam

Lisbon

Munich

Milan

Tallinn

Stockholm

37%

34%

18%

15%

15%

10%

8%

7%

7%

6%

Percentage of entrepreneurs who name the city as the place to locate a new start-up(With a maximum of 3 votes per entrepreneur)

Source: StartUp Heatmap Europe, 2019 StartUp Heatmap Report.


Main European cities for the number of scale-ups in 2018

According to StartupCity Hubs in Europe, Barcelona is the 7th city with the most scale-ups in Europe, with a to-tal of 125, a figure that represents nearly half the scale-ups (49%) and 62% of new invested capital in Spain as a whole. Barcelona comes above other cities, including Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Madrid, in a ranking led by London —with 1,153 scale-ups—, followed by Paris and Stockholm.

Scale-ups are defined as technological start-up compa-nies founded in the new millennium which have raised over a million dollars in funding since the beginning, and have completed at least one funding plan since 2010. This scale-up ranking focuses on 48 top hub cities, i.e. the cit-ies that have the highest concentration of scale-ups in their respective countries, and where this does not co-incide with the country’s capital, that city is also added, provided that it has at least one scale-up. Barcelona is among the four cities that surpass the figure for the cap-ital of their respective countries, along with Milan, Zurich and Limassol.

An analysis of this study also reveals that start-ups often benefit from the aggregation and concentration around the big hubs and that their local ecosystems have pro-duced mature results (innovative companies with mini-mally stable operations). Of the 5,596 scale-ups in Europe, (distributed among 476 cities that have at least one scale-up company), 3,759 (67% of the total) are located in only 48 cities, and the other 1,837 are spread throughout 428 cities.

Barcelona is the 7th European city with the most scale-ups

City Capital raised

Number

% over the total of scale-ups in country

Scale-ups

Top 10 Scale-up hub cities in Europe. 2018

Source: Mind the Bridge. Startup Europe, Comissió Europea

London

Paris

Stockholm

Berlin

Dublin

Helsinki

Barcelona

Amsterdam

Copenhagen

Madrid

Milan

Oslo

Zurich

Zug

Vienna

Brussels

Tallinn

Athens

Gant

Lisbon

Warsaw

Reykjavík

Porto

Budapest

Prague

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

1.153

487

309

288

157

132

125

115

101

93

80

74

67

47

41

38

38

36

34

32

31

30

26

25

24

69

72

61

54

74

60

49

55

70

36

45

74

29

20

72

30

95

78

26

47

46

94

38

93

75

73

80

80

66

81

60

62

73

85

33

55

78

13

36

82

28

95

92

36

66

49

66

29

97

85


1.153

487

309

288

157

132

Main scale-up hub cities in Europe. 2018

London

Paris

Stockholm

Berlin

Dublin

Helsinki

Barcelona

Amsterdam

Copenhagen

125

115

101

Source: Mind the Bridge. Startup Europe, European Commission.


Top cities in the world for scientific academic production in 2018

Barcelona is 23rd among the world’s cities and 5th in Europe

With 19,649 scientific publications, it is the 5th European city and the 23th in the world in terms of scientific aca-demic production, according to Knowledge Cities Ranking 2018, compiled by the UPC’s Land Policy and Valuations Centre, based on the Science Citation Index. The num-ber of publications increased by 8.2% in Barcelona com-pared to the year before, which enabled it to hold on to 5th place in the European ranking, while falling two places in the world ranking, in line with the drop that most Euro-pean cities experienced, due to an increase in scientific publications in Chinese and American cities. There were more scientific publications in Barcelona than in cities such as Berlin, Hong Kong, Milan and Oxford, although it came a long way behind the top cities in the ranking (Beijing, London and Shanghai, which have maintained their leading positions since 2014).

Meanwhile, Barcelona came 34th out of the 200 main science cities in the world, according to the index com-piled by the magazine Nature. Furthermore, of the 408 Advanced Grants given to researchers by the European Research Council in 2019, 10 were for Catalan institutions, accounting for half of the total grants given to Spain (20). Since the beginning of the European Research Council's campaigns in 2007 and up to 2018, Catalonia's network of universities and research centres has attracted 307 grants. If this figure is compared to European Union coun-tries, Catalonia would be in second place, only behind the Netherlands.

*Provisional data (October 2019).

Source: Compiled by the UPC's Land Policy and Valuations Centre (CPVS), based on data from the SCI (Science Citation Index).

Top cities in the world in terms of scientific production

Global ranking European ranking

2018*

23

5

(Barcelona's position in the world and European rankings)

2016

18

5

2017

21

5

2008

7

20

2009

15

6

2010

17

6

2011

13

5

2012

12

5

2013

10

4

2014

11

4

2015

5

18


CityWorldranking 2017

Worldranking 2018

Europeanranking 2018

Publications2018*

Top cities in the world for scientific academic production

1

2

3

4

5

9

6

7

8

10

11

14

12

13

19

15

18

28

17

20

16

22

21

26

24

23

25

27

31

29

30

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

97,202

48,615

46,852

40,376

38,436

36,911

36,451

36,002

34,628

29,828

27,109

24,779

22,594

22,501

20,861

20,692

20,473

20,376

20,129

20,057

19,946

19,789

19,649

19,574

19,220

19,029

17,878

17,306

16,925

16,578

16,522

Beijing

London

Shanghai

New York

Boston

Nanjing

Seoul

Tokyo

Paris

Guangzhou

Wuhan

Xian

Madrid

Moscow

Cambridge (USA)

Chicago

Philadelphia

Chengdu

Houston

Toronto

Baltimore

Los Angeles

Barcelona

Hangzhou

Melbourne

São Paulo

Rome

Milan

Hong Kong

Singapore

Berlin

*Provisional data for October 2019.Source: Polytechnic University of Catalonia-Land Policy and Valuations Centre. http://www-cpsv.upc.es/KnowledgeCitiesRanking/


Population employed in technological manufacturing and services in European regions in 2018

In 2018, Catalonia remained in 4th place among the Euro-pean regions with the most people employed in high and medium-high technology intensity manufacturing, for the third year running, coming behind the regions of Stuttgart, Lombardy and Upper Bavaria. With a total of 230,000 peo-ple working in these sectors, according to Eurostat, the number of jobs in these activities remained more or less stable (about 0.1% less than the previous year). Almost a third of this employed population are women (70,700), a decrease of 4.6% compared to the previous year. Con-sequently, Catalonia has a relative employment weighting of 6.8% in high and medium-high technology manufactur-ing sectors, a percentage that puts it in the medium-high band among the 319 European regions.

Catalonia is also in 7th place among the European regions for employment in knowledge-intensive and high technol-ogy services, with a total of 114,000 employees in 2018. Compared with the previous year, employment figures in these areas suffered a slight fall of 700 (-0.6%), causing Catalonia to drop one place among European regions. Furthermore, the weighting of these activities in the over-all employed population is 3.4%, placing the region in the medium-high band of European regions. The number of women employed in these activities decreased by 2,200 people compared to 2017, to 30,700 (27% of the total). Social Security figures show that the weighting of these sectors, in terms of the overall number of jobs in the city of Barcelona, reached 7.2% in December 2018, after an annual increase in employment (+7.6%) that was much higher than for the economy as a whole (+3.1%).

Catalonia, 4th European region in terms of the population employed in technological manufacturing and 7th for services

Source: Eurostat

People employed in knowledge-intensive and high- technology services and people employed in high and medium-high technology intensity manufacturing. 2018

397,9

327

230,1

169,3

33,5

59,3

149,9

112,0

114,0

97,7

81,9

311,1

Lombardy(Milan)

East and Central

(Dublin)

Upper Bavaria(Munich)

Catalonia(Barcelona)

Rhône-Alpes(Lyon)

London(London)

People employed in high and medium-high technological manufacturing (in thousands).

People employed in knowledge-intensive and high-technology services (in thousands).


Population employed in technology manufacturing and technology services in the European regions. 2018

% People employed / total employed population

% People employed / total employed population

Employed women (thousands)

Employed women (thousands)

Total people employed (thousands)

Total people employed (thousands)

Region (CITY)

2.5

3.4

4.4

3.4

1.7

2.9

2.3

3.5

0.5

2.3

1.9

2.2

3.4

3.7

6.5

3.7

5.6

4.8

2.8

7.1

5.8

4.3

4.0

5.6

9.1

4.1

6.7

2.9

4.8

5.3

5.6

19.1

9.0

12.9

6.8

3.9

11.1

10.2

13.8

11.8

7.0

17.3

9.1

5.9

7.5

3.0

7.7

7.2

3.8

6.2

2.8

4.1

5.5

5.2

2.8

5.0

6.3

1.3

2.6

4.0

3.5

4.6

17

47

38

31

21

16

16

17

2

19

8

13

30

26

119

25

17

42

10

66

39

13

11

39

29

15

96

17

18

22

13

97

107

82

71

44

49

48

46

29

41

41

57

47

40

46

43

39

35

20

24

21

15

17

15

21

16

18

10

15

15

18

55

150

112

114

100

52

46

51

7

58

19

41

98

80

355

75

80

121

43

212

107

55

52

133

114

40

311

59

59

74

53

426

398

327

230

228

203

202

202

178

173

172

170

169

163

160

156

103

95

95

85

75

71

68

67

62

61

59

52

49

48

44


Lombardy (MILAN)



Istanbul (ISTANBUL)

Piemont (TURIN)

Emilia-Romagna (BOLOGNA)

Karlsruhe (KARLSRUHE)

Bursa,Eskişehir,Bilecik

Dusseldorf (DUSSELDORF)

Tübingen (TÜBINGEN)

Upper Silesia (KATOWICE)

Rhône-Alpes (LYON)

Cologne (COLOGNE)



Central Hungary (BUDAPEST)

Masovia (WARSAW)

Pays de la Loire (NANTES)


Berlin (BERLIN)

Midi-Pyrénées (TOULOUSE)

Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and North Somerset

Lazio (ROME)

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire (OXFORD)

Hamburg (HAMBURG)

London (LONDON)

Provence-Alps-Cote d’Azur (MARSEILLE)

East Anglia (EAST ANGLIA)

Surrey, East Sussex and West Sussex (BRIGHTON)

Capital Region (COPENHAGEN)

NB: The original databe contains a total of nearly 300 European regions, although the table collects the top 10 in the subject and the remaining 20 is a selected sample of regions of interest..

Source: Eurostat

Knowledge-intensive and high technology services

High and medium-high technology manufacturing


Population employed in science and technology in 2018, and research and development expenditure in European regions in 2016

Catalonia registered 875,300 workers with higher qualifi-cations employed in science and technology in 2018, and it goes up one place to 4th in the ranking of European re-gions, only behind the regions of Paris, Madrid and Istan-bul, and above those of Lyon, Milan, Warsaw, Munich and Berlin, among others, according to Eurostat. Compared with the previous year, the number of people employed in this sector in Catalonia has increased by 60,600 (7.4%). The weighting of the employed population in science and technology in the overall population of Catalonia is 15.6% (1 point higher than in 2017), a percentage that places the region in the medium-high band among over 300 Europe-an regions.

In 2016, intensity in research and development (R+D) in Catalonia was 1.45% of the GDP, a percentage than sur-passed regions like London and Lombardy, as well as the average for Spain (1.19%). Nonetheless, Catalonia is still a long way behind leading European areas like Copenhagen, Stuttgart and Stockholm, and below both the European average (2.04%) and the target of 3% set by the European strategy for 2020. According to INE data, in 2017, the total expenditure on R+D in Catalonia was 1.47% of the GDP, while that of the business sector was 0.87% (1.20% and 0.66%, respectively, for Spain as a whole).

Catalonia, 4th European region for employment in science and technology

NB: Workers who have higher-level scientific training and are employed as professionals or technicians.*Population between 15 and 74 years.

Source: Eurostat

Population employed in science and technology (As a percentage of the total population* )

Catalonia (Barcelona) North Holland (Amsterdam) Lombardy (Milan)

2018

10,9

15,6

22,8

2000

8,8

4,7

13,4

2005

11,7

6,5

17,5

2010

7,8

11,5

18,7

2016

9,8

14,3

21,3

2017

10,6

14,6

22,2

2013

8,7

12,5

18,2

2014

9,1

12,9

19,5

2015

9,7

13,2

19,9


Region (CITY)Total R&D domestic expenditure (% GDP) 2016

Employees in science and technology (% population) 2018

Employees in science and

technology (thousands) 2018

Domestic expedinture in the business sector on R&D (% GDP) 2016

Population employed in science and technology in 2018, and research and developement expenditure in the European regions for 2016

2.90

1.66

1.45

2.77

1.30

4.35

0.91

3.54

0.51

1.68

2.03

2.79

6.17

2.49

1.75

1.76

3.13

3.78

0.53

0.99

1.49

1.15

4.75

0.91

3.67

2.16

1.10

1.99

0.94

0.83

1.83

0,96

3.33

:

0.34

1.46

0.30

0.67

1.08

1.13

5.71

1.52

1.31

0.80

2.48

2.82

0.35

0.41

1.19

0.54

3.38

0.44

2.30

1.66

0.80

21.2

20.3

8.5

15.6

17.4

10.9

20.6

31.7

9.8

22.4

31.9

12.0

19.2

15.6

16.9

14.1

12.7

22.8

16.2

28.2

13.2

11.8

20.6

10.3

14.5

18.1

13.4

22.7

15.7

20.9

1.879

1.006

964

875

827

816

724

662

627

617

595

531

527

527

524

521

496

490

489

488

440

439

423

422

418

403

392

391

377

369

Île-de-France (PARIS)***


Istanbul (ISTANBUL)


Rhône-Alpes (LYON)***

Lombardy (MILAN)

Upper Bavaria (MUNICH)*

Masovia (WARSAW)*

Andalusia (SEVILLE)

Berlin (BERLIN)*

East London -(LONDON)

Lazio (ROME)

South Holland (ROTTERDAM)**

Cologne (COLOGNE)*

Stuttgart (STUTTGART)*

Provence-Alps-Cote d’Azur (MARSEILLE)***

Düsseldorf (DÜSSELDORF)*

North Holland (AMSTERDAM)**

Darmstadt (FRANKFURT)*

Stockholm (STOCKHOLM)*

Upper Silesia (KATOWICE)


Surrey, East Sussex and West Sussex (BRIGHTON)

Ankara (ANKARA)

Attica (ATHENS)*

Midi-Pyrénées (TOULOUSE)***

Nord-Pas-de-Calais (LILLE)***

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire

Lesser Poland (Kraków)

East and Central Ireland (DUBLIN)*

NB:Workerswhohavehigher-levelscientifictrainingandareemployedasprofessionalsortechnicians.Internalexpenditureincludescapital,currentand employment expenditure (for both researchers and administrative personnel), linked to research activities in proportion to the GDP.* Data from 2015 for internal R+D expenditure (total and business).** Data from 2014 for internal R+D expenditure (business).*** Data from 2013 for internal R+D expenditure (total and business).

Source: Eurostat

Tourism

Introduction

The balance of tourist activity has been positive for the year as a whole, but at a lower intensity than in previous years. Following a period of significant ex-pansion, the city's tourist activity has entered a phase of more moderate development, and is focused on the aim of achieving not only higher-quality tourism, but also on becoming more decentralised, both with-in the City of Barcelona and in the region, by means of diversifying points of interest and deseasonalising visits. According to data from the Barcelona Tourism Observatory, in 2018, demand in the City of Barcelona rose to 13,067,036 tourists and 32,571,533 overnight stays in tourist establishments, with an occupancy rate of 64.1%.

Barcelona's good position as an international tourist destination is reflected in the key benchmark rankings for the sector. For the second year running, Barcelona maintained its position as the 31st favourite city des-tination in the world for international visitors and the 8th in Europe, according to the Top Cities Destination Ranking 2018, produced by Euromonitor International. When the total number of tourists is taken into ac-count (national and international), Barcelona gains one place, coming 7th in the ranking of European cit-ies with the most overnight stays in 2018, according to the European Cities Marketing Benchmarking Report 2018. Barcelona is well established in the area of congress tourism, and although the number of dele-gates and meetings held in the city fell in 2018, with respect to the previous year, the city remained top of the worldwide ranking for the number of delegates, according to the ICCA. As in previous years, the Mobile World Congress, held at the end of February and the beginning of March, was the main source of congress tourism, with 107,000 delegates, a figure that is very close to that of 2017 (108,000). Coming a long way be-hind, the second biggest source was Gastech Europe, an event aimed at the natural gas sector, with 20,000 delegates.

The main points of access for international tourists continue to register record numbers and major in-creases compared to the previous year. Barcelona's El Prat airport set a new passenger-traffic record with over 50 million visitors, although passenger numbers grew at a slower rate in 2018 than in the previous year (up 6.1%, compared to 7.1% in 2017), according to data supplied by Aena. In spite of this slower growth, El Prat airport stayed in 7th place in the European passenger-traffic ranking, and out of the 25 main airports it came 11th in the list of airports showing the most growth. With regard to origin and destination of cruise-ship passenger traffic, the Port of Barcelona held onto its position as the number one port in Europe and the Mediterranean for the 18th consecutive year. It rose one place in the world ranking, overtaking Shanghai, and is now ranked 4th in the world according to Cruise Insight statistics. Over the course of 2018, around 3 million cruise passengers passed through the Port of Barcelona, a figure that sets a new record and which represents a 12.2% increase on the previous year.

BARCELONA OBSERVATORY REPORT 2019 71 Tourism

Barcelona’s tourism sector continues

to be one of the main driving forces

in the city’s economy


Main European airports by passenger volume in 2018

Barcelona airport surpasses the threshold of 50 million passengers and remains in 7th place among the main European airports

In 2018, the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat airport achieved a new passenger-traffic record, surpassing the threshold of 50 million passengers for the first time. Bar-celona airport's passenger traffic has grown by nearly 3 million people (6.1% more), reaching a figure of 50,172,457 people in 2018, according to data supplied by Aena. As a result of this evolution, Barcelona's airport remains in 7th place in the European ranking for passenger volume, just behind London Heathrow, Paris Roissy, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Istanbul and Madrid.

The annual evolution of passenger traffic in 2018 was positive in all of Europe's 25 major airports, with the ex-ception of Moscow-Domodédovo (DME) (-4.1%), accord-ing to data from the Airport Traffic Report. However, the rate of growth varied widely: from 1.1% in Stockholm and London Gatwick to 22.2% in Antalya. El Prat, with an an-

nual growth of 6.1%, is the 11th airport in terms of biggest growth out of Europe's 25 major airports, and it came 5th out of the top ten airports, behind Moscow-Xeremétievo, Madrid, Frankfurt and Istanbul.

European air traffic, with 31.2 million people (62% of the total) was the major contributor to El Prat's total growth in absolute terms, with 1.38 million more people (a 48% in-crease). However, in relative terms, this figure showed the smallest increase (4.6%). As percentages, there is a no-table increase in intercontinental passenger traffic (from outside Europe) which rose by 16.5%, reaching a total of 5.5 million passengers (11% of the total). National air traf-fic grew less than the total international traffic (European and intercontinental), in both relative and absolute terms (5.7% and 729,344 more people), reaching a total of 13.45 million passengers (27% of the total for El Prat airport).

Source: Airport Traffic Report. Airports Council International, ACI Europe, and the Barcelona Air Route Development Committee (CDRA).

NB: In 2010, the Airport of Barcelona dropped one position with the entry of Istanbul Airport in the data statistics of the ACI. If it had not been inclu-ded, Barcelona would have maintained the ninth position.

Passengers(millions)

Barcelona (BCN) Amsterdam (AMS) Munich (MUC)

Milan (MXP)Barcelona’s position in the ranking

2005

27.1

19.6

28.6

44.2

9

2007

32.7

23.8

33.9

47.7

9

2008

30.1

19.2

34.5

47.4

9

2009

27.3

17.5

32.7

43.6

9

2010

29.2

18.9

34.7

45.2

10

2011

34.4

19.3

37.8

49.8

9

2012

35.1

18.5

38.4

51.0

9

2014

37.6

18.8

39.7

55.0

10

2013

35.2

18.0

38.7

52.6

10

2015

39.7

18.4

41.0

58.3

10

2016

44.2

19.3

42.3

63.6

7

2017

47.3

22.2

44.6

68.5

7

2018

50.2

24.7

46.3

71.0

7

X

Main European airports by passenger volume. 2018

City (airport) Variation 2018/2017 (%)

Passengers 2018

London Heathrow (LHR)

Paris Roissy (CDG)

Amsterdam (AMS)

Frankfurt (FRA)

Istanbul (IST)

Madrid (MAD)

Barcelona (BCN)

Munich (MUC)

London-Gatwick (LGW)

Moscow-Xeremétievo (SVO)

Rome-Fiumicino (FCO)

Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen (SAW)

París-Orly (ORY)

Antalya (AYT)

Dublin (DUB)

Zurich (ZHR)

Copenhagen (CPH)

Moscow-Domodédovo (DME)

Palma de Mallorca (PMI)

Lisbon (LIS)

Manchester (MAN)

Oslo (OSL)

London-Stansted (STN)

Vienna (VIE)

Stockholm-Arlanda (ARN)

2.7

4.0

3.7

7.8

6.7

8.4

6.1

3.8

1.1

14.4

4.9

8.5

3.4

22.2

6.5

5.7

3.7

-4.1

4.0

8.9

2.0

2.9

8.1

10.8

1.1

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

80,126,856

72,229,723

71,053,157

69,510,269

67,981,446

57,891,340

50,172,457

46,253,623

46,075,400

45,348,150

42,995,119

34,058,917

33,116,833

31,680,150

31,494,639

31,068,273

30,259,335

29,400,000

29,081,787

29,031,168

28,355,109

28,285,591

27,996,116

27,037,187

26,904,269

Source: Airport Traffic Report 2018. Airports Council International and the Barcelona Air Route Development Committee (CDRA).


International tourists in cities around the world 2018

For the second year running, Barcelona is ranked the 8th most popular city in Europe, and 31st in the world, in terms of international visitors, out of a total of 100 cities, according to the Top 100 City Destinations 2018, produced by Euromon-itor International. The number of international tourists that chose Barcelona as a tourist destination rose to 6.7 million in 2018, 3.0% more than the previous year, according to the Euromonitorestimate.ThisfigureputsBarcelonaaheadofMoscow and Beijing on a global scale, and ahead of Vienna and Budapest on a European scale. Barcelona retained the same position in the European ranking as in 2017, coming behind London, Paris, Istanbul, Antalya, Rome, Prague and Amsterdam. It also kept its place in the worldwide ranking, although it has fallen six places since 2012.

Meanwhile, the European Cities Marketing Benchmarking Re-port 2019 ranks Barcelona as the 7th most popular city in Europe in terms of tourist overnight stays in 2018, coming behind London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Istanbul and Madrid; this is one place lower than in 2017, having been overtaken by Istanbul. However, when measuring international tourist overnight stays, Barcelona comes 4th, behind London, Paris and Rome, having gained one place by overtaking Prague. Finally, according to the latest edition of the Global Desti-nation Cities Index from Mastercard, Barcelona is ranked 18th in the world in terms of international tourism spending in 2018, rising two places compared to 2017.

City Variation 2018/2017 (%)

International tourists 2018 (thousands)1

International tourists in cities around the world. 2018

Hong Kong

Bangkok

London

Macau

Singapore

Paris

Dubai

New York

Kuala Lumpur

Delhi

Shenzhen

Istanbul

Phuket

Antalya

Mumbai

Tokyo

Taipei

Rome

Mecca

Guangzhou

Prague

Pattaya

Amsterdam

Agra

Miami

Seoul

Osaka

Shanghai

Los Angeles

Denpasar

Barcelona

7.0

5.5

4.5

9.2

5.3

6.5

5.5

3.1

4.6

23.1

3.0

13.0

2.9

13.1

18.8

3.6

5.5

1.8

9.9

4.3

2.6

16.1

8.0

24.3

-0.1

0.9

12.9

2.3

1.1

15.2

3.0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

29,827.2

23,688.8

20,715.9

18,931.4

18,551.2

16,863.5

16,658.5

13,500.0

13,434.3

12,505.3

12,437.3

12,121.1

11,949.5

10,729.3

10,670.1

9,896.3

9,783.3

9,703.2

9,484.3

9,392.0

9,038.9

8,620.0

8,476.6

8,258.2

8,071.2

7,731.4

7,456.3

7,359.6

7,246.4

7,185.6

6,726.0


Barcelona remains one of the top ten international tourist destinations in Europe

1 Euromonitor estimate.NB: International arrivals include both foreign visitors coming to the city as a firstpointofentryandpeoplewhocometothecityviaanotherentrypoint.Visitor is understood to mean any person who is in the city for at least 24 hours and less than 12 months, and who stays in a private establishment or collective accommodation. People who travel to the city for day trips and domestictouristsareexcludedfromthesefigures.

Source: Top 100 Cities Destinations 2018. Euromonitor International.

Source: Top Cities Destination Ranking. Euromonitor International.

International tourists (millions)

Barcelona Amsterdam Paris Rome

Barcelona’s position in the world rankingX

4.0

8.1

2010

5.1

5.6

164.2

9.7

8.6

2012

5.4235.2

15.2

8.6

2013

5.525

2014

5.7

15.0

8.8

6.226

2015

5.9

15.0

9.5

6.625

2016

6.8

13.9

9.4

6.523

2017

7.8

15.8

9.5

6.531

2018

8.5

16.8

9.7

6.731

*Totalsinaccordancewithfinancialyears.** IIncludes cruise-ship passengers on the Mississippí river (30,000 in 2018).*** Includes the terminals in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Source: Cruise Insight, autumn of 2018.

Cruise ships in major world ports in 2018

The Port of Barcelona registered 3,041,963 cruise-ship passengers in 2018, its highest ever figure. This means that it remains the leading base port in the Mediterrane-an and in Europe for cruise-ship passengers. However, on a global scale, the Port of Barcelona was ranked as the 4th busiest base port, rising one place after overtaking Shanghai, where passenger numbers fell by 7.4% com-pared to the previous year. The top three positions con-tinue to be filled by the three big Florida enclave ports (Miami, Port Canaveral and Port Everglades), according to the magazine Cruise Insight (autumn 2018).

Regarding growth, out of the 20 major ports in the world, Barcelona is ranked 3rd, with a notable annual growth of 12.2%, coming behind Singapore and Hamburg. As in 2015 and 2016, and in contrast to 2017, this notable growth is due to an increase in the number of passengers who embarked or disembarked in Barcelona, with a year-on-year variation of 15.9 and 15.5% respectively; mean-while, the number of in-transit passengers also increased by a significant 8%. The seasonal nature of demand in the cruise-ship market is even more marked, with minimum passenger numbers during the winter months (above all in January and February) and maximum numbers in the summer months (July to October). Every month from April to September surpassed the figure of 300,000 pas-sengers, while October continues to be the month with the greatest number of cruise passengers (418,492). In fact, the number of cruise-ship passengers increased in every month except August (-1%) and December (-17%), an increase that was especially notable in the first four months of the year (with an average rise of 32%).


The Port of Barcelona is the leading Mediterranean port for the eighteenth year running

Cruise ship passengers in main world ports. 2018

City Variation 2018/2017 (%)

Passengers 2018

(thousands)

Miami*

Port Canaveral*

Port Everglades*

Barcelona

Shanghai

Southampton

Galveston

Singapore

Sydney*

Venice

Long Beach

New Orleans**

New York***

Seattle

Tampa

4.7

7.7

-7.9

12.2

-7.4

6.2

3.5

35.6

-3.9

9.3

3.3

2.3

7.6

4.0

8.6

2

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

5,592

4,568

3,445

3,042

2,753

2,184

1,966

1,870

1,590

1,561

1,322

1,182

1,155

1,115

1,043

Source: Cruise Insight. MedCruise and Ports de l’Estat

Cruise-ship passengers (millions)

Barcelona Piraeus (Athens) Venice Palma de Mallorca

Barcelona’s positioning in the Mediterranean ranking

2010

1.55

1.15

1.62

2.351 1

2018

2.43

0.96

3.04

1.56

1

2014

1.59

1.06

2.36

1.73

1

2012

1.34

1.20

2.41

1.78

1

2013

1.54

1.30

2.60

1.82

1

2015

2.00

0.98

2.54

1.58

1

2017

1.86

1.06

2.71

1.43

1

2016

1.96

1.09

2.68

1.61

1

X

Prices and costs

Introduction

In 2019, Barcelona registered a generalised increase in rental prices for offices, logistics land and housing, a trend that has been observed since the start of the economic recovery. Similarly, inflation for 2018 was 1.8% for the province. However, this is a more moder-ate growth than the one experienced in the previous year. Although there has been an increase in general, Barcelona retains its position in the middle band of the cities analysed for most of the indicators in this chap-ter, while offering profitability in line with other Euro-pean cities in terms of office and logistics land rentals. Therefore, in comparison with other cities, the evo-lution of prices and costs observed in Barcelona still makes it a competitive, attractive candidate in the area of business on a worldwide scale. However, work must be done to increase the supply of logistics land and places for offices, in order to avoid pricing tensions that would undermine this comparative advantage in the future.

In 2019, in spite of this increase in prices, and in con-trast with the previous year, the City of Barcelona's position in the world's highest cost-of-living ranking has fallen, according to Mercer Human Resource Con-sulting. In comparison with Eurozone countries, Bar-celona has maintained the same position for the last two years (14th) in the classification of cities with the highest cost of living. The economic deceleration, the depreciation of the euro against the dollar and a con-text of “precaution” in consumerism explain the slight reduction in the cost of living compared to other cities in the world.

According to statistics for 2018 produced by UBS, salary levels in Barcelona continue to be at the medium-low end when compared with other European cities, as they are only higher than cities like Lisbon, Athens, Prague and Budapest, but way below other similar cities such as Dublin, Munich, Amsterdam and Milan. Compared to three years ago, the situation has remained stable, mainly because the increase in salaries recorded in the city is part of a context of salary increases in other cities around the world. From a gender perspective, in 2017, the last year for which Barcelona City Council has data, the annual income of women was €26,579, while for

men it was €34,017. This means that the pay gap in Barcelona was similar to previous years, at 21.9%. This pay gap is lower than in Catalonia as a whole (23%) and in line with Spain (21.9%), according to Idescat. Accord-ing to the consultancy firm Adecco, using figures for2019 from the Active Population Survey, this has been thefirstyearsincethestartoftheeconomicrecoverythat workers have experienced an increase in spending power, as their ordinary gross monthly salaries have increasedabovetheinflationrate.

Regarding taxation, the last modification occurred in 2016, with a decrease in corporation tax from 28 to 25%. This placed Spain in the middle band of the classification and it has remained stable since then. In terms of social contributions, the rate paid by workers is one of the lowest compared to other countries, but is much higher if the contributions made by compa-nies are taken into consideration. If these two figures were averaged out, then Spain would be in line with the European average. In regard to indirect taxation, VAT remains at 21% in 2019, in the upper-middle band of the classification. Lastly, this year, the PwC study Paying Taxes 2019 evaluated the improvement resulting from implementing the Immediate Informa-tion Supply (SII) system for reducing the time needed to collect VAT.

BARCELONA OBSERVATORY REPORT 2019 79 Prices and costs

Barcelona affected by a worldwide

moderation in the cost

of living, despite a generalised

increase in prices

Cost of living in world cities 2019


Barcelona is 91st in the 2019 ranking of 209 cities around the world with the highest cost of living, according to Mercer’s Worldwide Cost of Living Survey. The ranking is produced by analysing the comparative cost of over 200 basic products and services measured during the current year. In contrast with the significant rise in the ranking registered in 2018, prices and costs have moderated in Barcelona this year in comparison with the other cities analysed, causing the city to drop twelve places from its position of 79th in 2018. This placing is still high compared to the 2015-2017 period and it is more in line with the re-sults obtained during the years of economic crisis. In spite of an increase in the inflation rate, this fall is marked by a slight depreciation of the euro against the dollar at the start of 2019, compared to 2018 (the analysis is made in comparison with New York and it is therefore in American dollars) and due to the context of the economic deceler-ation, partly due to a significant slow-down in world com-merce, which in turn has caused moderation in consump-tion, which remains cautious.

If this is compared to the Eurozone (28 cities), Barcelona remains 14th in the ranking of cities with the highest cost of living, for the third year running, which is also the posi-tion it held from 2012 to 2014. Keeping the same place in the Eurozone ranking can be explained by the fact that all the other European cities were also affected by the same slow-down in world commerce and economic growth.

Barcelona drops in the ranking of cities with the highest cost of living


14

79

14

91

2019

14

121

2017 2018

15

110

2016

16

124

2015

14

71

2014

14

84

2013

14

85

11

49

2010 20122009

NB: 2011 data does not appear in the chart because they are not available to include in the European ranking.

Source: Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, City Ranking. Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

Hig

her c

ost

Low

er c

ost

World ranking Euro zone ranking

12

38


City CityRanking2018

Ranking2018

Ranking2019

Ranking2019

Cost of living in cities around the world

1

2

4

5

3

7

43

9

13

12

8

10

11

21

16

28

15

35

23

14

26

37

19

18

42

6

17

25

22

24

31

29

40

41

27

45

51

54

19

52

36

56

32

60

33

38

34

66

70

79

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

91

Hong Kong

Tokyo

Singapore

Seoul

Zurich

Shanghai

Ashgabat

Beijing

New York

Shenzhen

N’Djamena

Bern

Geneva

Victoria

Tel-Aviv

San Francisco

Guangzhou

Los Angeles

Osaka

Copenhagen

Dubai

Kinshasa

London

Libreville

Lagos

Luanda

Moscow

Nanjing

Nouméa

Abidjan

Chengdu

Tianjin

Abu Dhabi

Nagoya

Taipei

Riyadh

Chicago

Honolulu

Brazzaville

Bangkok

Qingdao

Washington

Dublin

Miami

Milan

Shenyang

Paris

Dhaka

Boston

Barcelona

Source: Cost of Living Survey, City Ranking 2019, Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

Corporation Tax, VAT and Social Security contributions in countries around the world 2019

Spain continues to be at the medium-high end of Europe regarding rates in the main tax categories, according to the comparison published and regularly reviewed by KPMG. In regard to indirect taxation, the VAT rate has not changed with respect to 2018, remaining at 21% this year. This rate is slightly below that of other neighbouring countries such as Portugal (23%) and Italy (22%), but it is higher than in others —such as France (20%) and Germany (19%)— while remaining significantly below those of Denmark, Sweden and Norway (25% in all three cases). None of the other selected countries of the world have modified their VAT rate in 2019. In regard to direct taxation, Spanish corpo-ration tax is set at 25% in 2019, slightly above the average for the European Union (21.1%). However, in this case, it would be more appropriate to compare the effective rate

(after deductions and discounts), given that the latter can be a lot lower than the nominal figure. As in other Euro-pean countries, such as Sweden and Italy, if the average Social Security contributions are compared, we can see that the contribution rate paid by the workers (6.4%) is a lot lower than the one paid by the company (29.9%). In the former, the rate is equally low in comparison to other countries (the European average is 14.5%), while the rate paid by companies is among the highest (the EU average is 21.1%). All in all, the average rate of total contributions in Spain is in line with the European average. Lastly, the maximum income tax rate (IRPF) in Spain is set at 45% in 2019, which is above the European average (38.3%), and it has remained the same as in 2018 (this marginal rate is applied from €60,000 upwards).


The main taxation rates remain in the middle band for European Union countries

Switzerland

Slovenia

Austria

Regne Unit

Denmark

Germany

Czech Republic

France

Sweden

Norway

Poland

Finland

Hungary

Greece

Italy

Ireland

Spain

Portugal

12,5

28,0

29,030,0

31,0

19,0

25,0

25,0

21,0 24,0

18,0

22,0

19,0

19,0

19,0

9,0

21,4

22,0

20,0

20,0

Slovakia21,0

Latvia

Luxembourg24,9

Belgium

25,0 Netherlands

Corporation tax. 2019 (%)

Source: Tax Rate Online 2019. KPMG.


VAT, Corporation Tax and Social Security contributions in countries around the world. 2019

Country CountryBasic VAT rate

(%)

Base Corporate

tax rate (%)

27.0

25.0

25.0

25.0

24.0

24,0

23.0

23.0

23.0

22.0

22.0

21.0

21.0

21.0

21.0

21.0

21.0

20.0

20.0

20.0

20.0

19.0

19.0

18.0

18.0

17.0

17.0

16.0

15.0

31.0

30.6

30.0

30.0

30.0

30.0

29.0

28.0

28.0

27.0

26.5

25.0

25.0

25.0

25.0

25.0

25.0

24.9

24.0

23.0

22.0

22.0

21.4

21.0

21.0

20.0

20.0

19.0

19.0

Hungary

Denmark

Norway

Sweden

Finland

Greece

Ireland

Poland

Portugal

Slovenia

Italy

Argentina

Belgium

Spain

Latvia

Netherlands

Czech Republic

Austria

Slovakia

France

United Kingdom

Germany

Cyprus

India

Tunisia

Israel

Luxembourg

China

South Africa

France

Japan

India

Germany

Argentina

Australia

Belgium

Greece

South Africa

United States

Canada

Austria

South Korea

Spain

Netherlands

Tunisia

China

Luxembourg

Italy

Israel

Norway

Denmark

Sweden

Slovakia

Portugal

Finland

Latvia

Slovenia

Poland

Country CountrySocial security rates

workers (%)

Social security rates

companies (%)

27.7

23.0

22.1

20.1

18.5

18.1

17.0

16.0

15.2

13.7

13.4

13.1

12.5

12.0

12.0

11.0

11.0

11.0

10.5

9.8

9.5

9.2

8.7

8.3

8.2

7.7

7.0

6.7

6.4

45.0

35.2

34.0

32.0

31.4

30.0

29.9

27.5

26.7

25.1

24.1

23.8

21.4

21.0

21.0

20.2

19.8

19.4

16.6

16.1

15.5

15.2

14.1

13.8

12.0

11.0

9.7

8.3

7.6

Netherlands

France

Slovenia

Germany

Hungary

Austria

Argentina

Greece

Japan

Poland

Slovakia

Belgium

Luxembourg

India

Israel

Latvia

Portugal

Czech Republic

China

Finland

Italy

Tunisia

South Korea

Cyprus

Norway

United States

Sweden

Canada

Spain

France

Slovakia

Czech Republic

China

Sweden

Italy

Spain

Belgium

Argentina

Greece

Latvia

Portugal

Austria

Hungary

Poland

Finland

Netherlands

Germany

Tunisia

Slovenia

Japan

Luxembourg

Norway

United Kingdom

India

Ireland

South Korea

Cyprus

Israel

NB: The original database contains 138 countries, although the table shows a sample of selected countries of reference.

Source: Tax Rate Online 2019. KPMG.

Office rental prices in European cities 2019


Profitability of the office rental market in European cities. 2019

NB: Yields refer to the return on investment in the office sector for each city. Source: Cushman & Wakefield Research, The DNA of Real State, 2T 2019 (Europe).

Moscow

Istanbul

Budapest

Prague

Brussels

Lisbon

Dublin

Copenhagen

Rome

London (West End)

Amsterdam

Stockholm

Barcelona

Milan

Madrid

Geneva

Berlin

Paris (CBD)

Vienna

Munich

7.8%

5.1%

9.3%

4.2%

4.2%

4.0%

4.0%

4.0%

3.8%

3.8%

3.5%

3.5%

3.5%

3.5%

3.3%

3.3%

3.1%

3.1%

2.8%

2.5%

Rentalpricesforofficesroseby9%in2019,butthey remain in the middle band among the main European cities

In 2019, Barcelona experienced one of the highest relative increases in the square metre (m2) price for office rentals, with a year-on-year growth of 9%, along with Ber-lin (+17.5%) and Geneva (+9%). This increase puts the m2 price for the year at €327 (€29 higher than in 2018 and €51 more than in 2017), according to the Cushman & Wakefield Research report. The city is 28th out of a total of 48 cities selected from around the world. It is therefore in the lower-middle band, with prices that are a lot lower than those of the main capital cities, such as London WE (the only one above €1,000), Paris CDB (€850), Amsterdam (€450), Berlin (€444), along with other leading cities like Milan, Frankfurt and Munich (with prices around €500/m2 a year). Therefore, the price paid in Barcelona (m2/year) for an office is between the €300 in Hamburg and the €320 in Brussels. By contrast, Madrid is higher in the ranking (22nd) with a rate for office rentals that has increased by 3% to €414/m2 in 2019. In general, most cities have recorded a rise in rental prices (32 out of 48 cities) while the rest have maintained the same price as in 2018.

In regard to the profitability of office rentals (i.e. return on the investment made), in 2019, Barcelona maintained the same rate of 3.5% as in the last two years, the same as in Amsterdam, Milan and Stockholm, and two decimal points above the rate in Madrid (3.3%). The cities with the highest profitability are Moscow, Istanbul and Budapest (with val-ues above 5%), while Paris, Vienna and Munich continue to be at the other end of the scale (with profitability of between 3.1 and 2.5%).

City CityRanking Ranking Officerentals

(€/m2/year)

Officerentals

(€/m2/year)

Office rental prices in European cities. 2019

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

0.0

3.0

0.7

9.0

2.7

4.5

0.0

0.0

3.5

1.9

7.1

1.1

5.5

4.4

0.0

17.5

4.8

7.7

4.5

4.5

0.0

3.0

6.7

0.0

0.0

1.8

5.8

9.0

4.9

1.9

0.0

4.3

4.2

0.0

3.3

0.0

4.4

4.8

0.0

0.0

2.0

0.0

2.7

0.0

0.0

7.1

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

1.361

850

841

752

681

673

625

600

590

550

540

479

462

456

450

444

440

433

433

433

421

414

396

371

343

336

330

327

320

318

309

300

300

300

292

285

282

264

260

254

236

235

228

210

198

180

London (WE)

Paris (CBD)

London (City)

Geneva

Zurich

Dublin

Moscow

Luxembourg

Milan

Paris (La Défense)

Frankfurt

Oslo

Munich

Helsinki

Amsterdam (South Axis)

Berlin

Rome

Bristol

Edinburgh

Manchester

Birmingham

Madrid

Glasgow

Leeds

Istanbul

Düsseldorf

Hamburg

Barcelona

Brussels

Vienna

Cardiff

Newcastle

Budapest

Lyon

Gothenburg

Warsaw

Prague

Lisbon

Marseilles

Copenhagen

Malmö

Rotterdam

Bucharest

The Hague

Bratislava

Sofia

Source: Cushman & Wakefield Research, The DNA of Real State, 2T. 2019 (Europe).

Var. year-on-year2019/2018 (%)

Var. year-on-year2019/2018 (%)


Commercial premises rental prices in cities around the world 2019

For the tenth consecutive year, Portal de l’Àngel is ranked as the most expensive street in Spain, with a rental price of €3,420 a year per m2, using data from the second quar-ter of 2019, according to the Cushman & Wakefield re-port Main Streets Across the World 2019. The rental price for this Barcelona street has gone up by 1.8% compared to the previous year and stays ahead of Calle de Precia-dos in Madrid, which also registered an increase in rental price (+1.9%) to €3,300/m2/year. With an analysis of 445 markets in 65 countries, the report has compiled a rank-ing using the most expensive street in each country on a worldwide scale, as well as providing a regional analysis of the streets with the highest rental prices, regardless of whether a country is repeated or not. In the first instance, Barcelona is ranked 15th, dropping one place in com-parison with 2018. The prices are comparable to those reached in the most exclusive streets of Athens and Dub-lin, but they are far below those of premium streets such as New Bond Street (London) and the Champs-Élysées (Paris), with prices at around €15,000/m2/year. The second case, a regional analysis at a European level, places Barcelona 19th, just after Madrid. This ranking is headed by London, Paris and Milan, while Germany and Italy are the countries with the highest number of streets in this regional ranking (six and four, respectively).

The report also shows that Spain has one of the best per-forming retail markets, and the demand for commercial space on the streets of Spain's main cities continues to boom. Rental prices for the best locations are at a record level, thanks to the continued demand from traditional retailers, as well as new participants, such as food and beverage (F&B) operators, car manufacturers and tobac-co companies offering a “brand experience”.

Portal de l’Àngel is one of the top 20 most expensive shopping streets in Europe

201920182017

Kalverstraat(Amsterdam)

Preciados(Madrid)

Portal de l’Àngel(Barcelona)

Grafton Street(Dublin)

Kaufinger/ Neuhauser

(Munich)

Avenue desChamps Élysées

(Paris)

Via Montenapoleone

(Milan)

2,8502,9003,000

3,3003,2403,180

3,4203,3603,360

3,7943,7943,653

4,4404,4404,440

13,99213,992

13,255

13,70013,50013,500

21,29520,733

28,262

5th Avenue(New York)

Commercial-premises rental prices(€/m2/year)

Source: Main Streets Across the World. Cushman & Wakefield. Data from the second quarter of 2019.


Commercial-premises rental prices in cities around the world. 2019

Country City2019 ranking

Street2018 ranking


1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

9

8

10

11

12

13

15

14

17

16

19

18

21

20

24

27

26

23

22

25

28

31

29

25,965

21,295

16,222

13,992

13,700

11,838

10,185

8,195

8,163

4,860

4,453

4,440

3,794

3,420

3,420

2,957

2,850

2,820

2,728

2,302

2,268

2,194

2,053

1,989

1,952

1,920

1,900

1,837

1,800

1,741

China

United States

United Kingdom

France

Italy

Japan

Australia

Switzerland

South Korea

Austria

China

Germany

Ireland

Greece

Spain

Singapore

Netherlands

Czech Republica

Russia

India

Norway

Malaysia

Taiwan

Sweden

Canada

Luxembourg

Belgium

Denmark

Hungary

Vietnam

Hong Kong

New York

London

Paris

Milan

Tokyo

Sydney

Zurich

Seoul

Vienna

Beijing

Munich

Dublin

Athens

Barcelona

Singapore

Amsterdam

Prague

Moscow

New Delhi

Oslo

Kuala Lumpur

Taipei

Stockholm

Toronto

Luxembourg

Antwerp

Copenhagen

Budapest

Ho Chi Minh

Causeway Bay

Upper 5th Avenue (49th - 60th Sts)

New Bond Street

Avenue des Champs Élysées

Via Montenapoleone

Ginza

Pitt Street Mall

Bahnhofstrasse

Myeongdong

Kohlmarkt

Wangfujing

Kaufinger/Neuhauser

Grafton Street

Ermou

Portal de l’Àngel

Orchard Road

Kalverstraat

NaPříkopěstreet

Stoleshnikov

Khan Market

Karl Johan

Suria KLCC

Ximen

Biblioteksgatan

Bloor Street

Grand Rue

Meir

Stroget (including Vimmelskaftet)

Váci Utca (Best Achieved Shopping Mall)

Best Achieved Shopping Mall (GF)

NB: This ranking includes only the most expensive shopping street in each country.

Source: Main Streets Across the World. Cushman & Wakefield. Data from the second quarter of 2019.

Rentalsretail premises

(€/m2/year)

Logistics land rental prices in the main European cities 2019

The rental price for logistics land in Barcelona is €81 per m2 in 2019, according to a report produced by Cushman & Wakefield Research. This figure is 3.8% higher than in 2018, and places the city in the medium-high band out of a total of 46 European cities with the highest prices, due to the lower supply of available land and the growing de-mand. Therefore, while cities like London, Geneva and Zu-rich top the ranking with prices at around €158/m2, prices in Barcelona are in line with those of Munich, Cardiff and Copenhagen, but above those of Berlin, Paris and Milan. As Madrid has more available space, it is ranked 28th, with a logistics land rental price of €60/m2/year. Compared to the previous year, 22 of the 46 cities have registered price increases for logistics land rentals, while prices have gone down in only three cities (Istanbul, Bucharest and Sofia), with the rest remaining the same.

In regard to the profitability of the logistics land market, most cities offer rates of between 4% and 6%. In Barcelo-na the rate would be in an intermediate position, at 5% in 2019, 0.5 points lower than in 2018. The cities offering the highest profitability are Moscow, Istanbul and Budapest (ranging between 7.3 and 11%).


NB: The yield refers to the return on investment in logistics land in each city.


Moscow

Istanbul

Budapest

Lisbon

Geneva

Copenhagen

Rome

Vienna

Brussels

Milan

Madrid

Prague

Dublin

Amsterdam

BarcelonaStockholm (south)

Paris

Berlin

Munich

London (Heathrow)

11.0%

9.3%

7.3%

6.3%

6.0%

5.8%

5.8%

5.8%

5.3%

5.3%

5.3%

5.0%

5.0%

5.0%

5.0%

4.8%

4.5%

4.2%

4.1%

4.0%

Profitability of the logistics land market in European urban areas. 2019

Barcelona is situated at the high end of the ranking for the highest price of logistics land in European urban areas

Rental price of logistics land in European urban areas. 2019

Urban areas Urban areasLogistics land

rentals (€/m2/year)

Logistics land

rentals (€/m2/year)

3.3

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

9.9

0.0

0.0

2.3

3.6

3.7

0.0

2.2

3.8

8.3

0.0

8.7

3.2

0.0

3.3

11.1

0.0

3.7

0.0

0.0

0.0

-8.3

0.0

0.0

17.5

1.8

5.8

0.0

0.0

12.1

1.2

-3.5

6.7

6.7

0.0

5.4

-5.0

5.6

0.0

192

159

124

118

111

108

105

100

96

93

90

90

87

87

84

81

80

80

77

75

75

74

72

68

67

66

65

60

59

58

56

56

56

55

55

55

51

51

49

48

48

47

47

46

46

44

London (Heathrow)

Geneva

Zurich

Oslo

Helsinki

Stockholm (south)

Edinburgh

Dublin

Luxembourg

Glasgow

Amsterdam (Schiphol)

Bristol

Birmingham

Manchester

Munich

Barcelona

Cardiff

Copenhagen

Leeds

Göteborg (Arendal)

Malmö (Fosie, Bulltofta)

Frankfurt

Hamburg

Newcastle

Düsseldorf

Vienna

Rotterdam

Madrid

Istanbul

Brussels

Berlin

Budapest

Paris

Milan

Rome

The Hague

Moscow

Prague

Bucharest

Antwerp

Lisbon

Lyon

Bratislava

Sofia

Warsaw (Zone II)

Marseilles

Year-on-year rental variation 2019/2018 (%)

Year-on-year rental variation 2019/2018 (%)



Housing rental prices in the main European cities in 2019

According to the consultation of the Numbeo database made in October 2019, the average price of renting a home in the centre of Barcelona was €972 a month, 8.7% more than the same item consulted in September 2018 (€894 a month). Barcelona is 29th in a ranking of 168 cit-ies, coming between Bristol and Helsinki, and above Ma-drid, which is 35th with a rental price of €904 a month. If the same (one-bedroomed) home was located outside the city centre, the monthly rental price would go down by 25% to about €729. In regard to other cities, London, Geneva, Zurich, Dublin and Amsterdam are the cities with the highest monthly rents (a one-bedroomed home in the city centre costs over €1,500).

For three-bedroomed family homes (also located in the city centre) the rent is around €1,582 a month in Barce-lona (€1,125 if the home is outside the city centre). If the ranking is compiled using this criteria, Barcelona would be placed lower (38th), just below Madrid (with a rent of just over €1,600 a month) and above Edinburgh, Vienna and Stuttgart (€1,567 on average). The fact that the city has more medium-sized homes than small ones and that there is a higher demand for homes with a smaller sur-face area, means that its position in the classification for one-bedroomed flat rental prices is higher than the one for three-bedroomed flats.

At a European level, the price of housing in Barcelona is in the medium band


2,981

2,179

1,823

1,942

1,582

1,603

1,522

1,573

2,260

1,685

1,187

1,315

1,125

1,109

1,004

1,102

1,685

1,177

1,104

1,009

972

904

876

838

1,354

880

774

787

729

691

636

616

Dublin

Munich

Stockholm

Frankfurt

Barcelona

Madrid

Manchester

Vienna

Home rental prices in European cities. 2019(€/month)

Source: Numbeo. Consultation carried out in October 2019.

3 bedrooms in the centre 3 bedrooms outside of the centre1 bedroom in the centre 1 bedroom outside of the centre


City (Country)Ranking 1 room3 rooms

Home rental prices in the centre of European cities (€/month). 2019

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

3,590

3,389

3,102

2,981

2,619

2,730

2,251

2,515

2,061

2,603

1,910

2,219

2,224

2,179

1,844

2,293

1,823

1,871

1,672

1,861

2,170

1,947

1,942

1,942

1,720

1,886

1,840

1,670

1,665

1,566

1,488

1,479

1,318

1,229

1,223

1,206

1,196

1,179

1,177

1,136

1,107

1,104

1,093

1,086

1,085

1,062

1,057

1,028

1,009

1,008

London (United Kingdom)

Geneva (Switzerland)

Zurich (Switzerland)

Dublin (Ireland)

Amsterdam (The Netherlands)

Luxembourg (Luxembourg)

Reykjavík (Iceland)

Lausanne (Switzerland)

Oslo (Norway)

Paris (France)

Cambridge (United Kingdom)

Oxford (United Kingdom)

Copenhagen (Denmark)

Munich (Germany)

Cork (Ireland)

Basel (Switzerland)

Stockholm (Sweden)

Utrecht (The Netherlands)

Trondheim (Norway)

Rotterdam (The Netherlands)

Milan (Italy)

Brighton (United Kingdom)

Rome (Italy)

Frankfurt (Germany)

Galway (Ireland)

City (Country)Ranking 1 room3 rooms

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

1,689

1,692

1,697

1,582

1,751

1,490

1,936

1,617

1,501

1,603

1,695

1,581

1,756

1,529

1,522

1,668

1,678

1,573

1,547

1,436

1,674

1,527

1,437

1,475

1,369

996

995

989

972

955

951

942

936

907

904

894

891

889

881

876

873

865

838

837

830

827

824

806

790

777

Bergen (Norway)

Stavanger (Norway)

Bristol (United Kingdom)

Barcelona (Spain)

Helsinki (Finland)

Eindhoven (The Netherlands)

Bern (Switzerland)

The Hague (The Netherlands)

Gothenburg (Sweden)

Madrid (Spain)

Sliema (Malta)

Edinburgh (United Kingdom)

Hamburg (Germany)

Aarhus (Denmark)

Manchester (United Kingdom)

Berlin (Germany)

Lisbon (Portugal)

Vienna (Austria)

Stuttgart (Germany)

Brussels (Belgium)

Moscow (Russia)

Birmingham (United Kingdom)

Florence (Italy)

Southampton (United Kingdom)

Delft (The Netherlands)

Source: Numbeo. Consultation carried out in October 2019.

Salary levels in cities around the world 2018

According to the Prices and Earnings 2018 report, which UBS conducts every three years and compares the salary levels of 77 cities around the world, Barcelona is ranked 30th in terms of gross salary. However, if the net salary is taken into account, Barcelona drops to 35th place, with a net salary of $10 per hour, identical to cities like Madrid and Brussels.

Between 2015 and 2018, the gross salary level in Barce-lona increased in relation to the city of reference, which is New York, a trend that is shared with the main bench-mark European cities, as a consequence of the economic recovery, the increase in inflation and the appreciation of the euro. The result is that Barcelona maintains the same place in the worldwide ranking for salaries that it had in 2015 (30th in the worldwide ranking), and 20th place if only the 37 European cities are taken into account. Therefore, Barcelona is at the medium-low end in Europe, below Munich, Berlin, Dublin, Amsterdam, Lyon and Milan, and many others, but above cities like Lisbon and Prague, and very much in line with Madrid.

The increase in net salaries in Barcelona for the period analysed (i.e. after taxes and Social Security contribu-tions) is less significant than if it is analysed in terms of gross salary, differentiated by income tax, compared with the city of reference (New York).

Barcelona maintains positions in the salary ranking


30.9

26.8

22.3

19.2

18.6

17.5

17.4

16.6

16.3

15.9

15.7

15.3

15.0

14.0

13.5

13.2

12.9

12.0

10.1

10.0

10.0

7.2

6.9

6.5

5.6

5.5

5.3

5.2

4.6

4.5

4.2

Zurich

Geneva

Luxembourg

Oslo

Copenhagen

Munich

Frankfurt

Dublin

Vienna

Berlin

Stockholm

London

Helsinki

Paris

Lyon

Rome

Amsterdam

Milan

Madrid

Barcelona

Brusels

Ljubljana

Tallinn

Lisbon

Athens

Warsaw

Prague

Vilnius

Moscow

Bratislava

Zagreb

Wage costs per hour. 2018 (€)

NB: The net salary is calculated after taxes and contributions to Social Security.

Source: Prices and Earnings 2018, UBS.


City CityRanking RankingGross salary Gross salary

Salary levels in cities around the world. 2018

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

133.1

153.8

110.9

107.8

92.3

95.4

100.0

103.1

81.2

94.9

87.3

87.0

78.1

86.4

73.5

90.8

85.3

79.0

82.5

74.5

64.2

65.9

69.4

76.0

78.4

67.0

59.5

49.5

72.4

49.6

50.0

61.8

62.8

62.7

66.8

56.0

35.7

46.0

43.9

32.4

46.0

34.5

34.5

28.1

34.7

27.1

26.4

31.2

20.8

29.5

27.8

23.7

26.1

22.6

17.8

24.0

18.8

22.1

20.7

18.9

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

131.5

129.8

111.3

101.7

101.3

100.6

100.0

91.8

89.7

89.6

86.7

86.3

85.8

85.7

80.9

80.2

79.2

77.3

76.9

75.2

73.9

72.2

68.6

68.5

67.1

66.5

65.2

61.9

60.3

58.4

58.3

55.5

50.6

50.3

50.1

41.1

40.7

40.0

34.0

32.1

32.1

30.5

30.2

30.0

29.5

26.7

26.7

26.4

25.3

25.2

25.0

24.1

24.0

21.5

21.2

20.5

19.7

19.3

18.6

18.5

Geneva

Zurich

Luxembourg

Los Angeles

Copenhagen

Oslo

New York

Miami

Vienna

Chicago

Toronto

Munich

Stockholm

Frankfurt

Montreal

Sydney

Tokyo

Berlin

Dublin

Helsinki

Amsterdam

Rome

Paris

London

Auckland

Lyon

Milan

Brussels

Hong Kong

Barcelona

Madrid

TelAviv

Taipei

Nicosia

Manama

Dubai

Ljubljana

Seoul

Riyadh

Lisbon

Doha

Tallinn

Sao Paulo

Athens

SantiagodeXile

Warsaw

Prague

Panama

Zagreb

RiodeJaneiro

Johannesburg

BuenosAires

Vilnius

Bratislava

Bucharest

Kuala Lumpur

Budapest

Shanghai

Lima

Riga

Net salary Net salary

Source: Prices & Earnings 2018. UBS.

NB: The net salary is calculated after taxes and contributions to Social Security, and is written as an index number considering New York's value as a 100.

SUMMARY OF RESULTS

Summary of results

In 2018, both Catalonia and the City of Barcelona main-tained a good rate of economic growth, in spite of global uncertainty caused by Brexit and trade wars, along with the worldwide economic deceleration at the end of the year. All in all, it is calculated that the city's growth slowed by 0.5% last year, to a figure of 2.6%. Employment has been created in the city, with an increase in registrations of 2.7% to over 1.1 million people, while the unemploy-ment rate fell by 1.2 points to 9.7% on average for 2018. For 2019, the forecasts are for continued growth, but at an even slower rate. as the global deceleration progresses and becomes more accentuated. Its effects may also be noted in a slow-down in job creation, with significant variations according to the economic sector concerned. In spite of this context, Barcelona has shown that it is a resilient city, capable of maintaining its attraction and its favourable economic and business position in Europe and worldwide, as shown in previous editions and demonstrat-ed in the 33 indicators compiled in the Barcelona Obser-vatory's 2019 Report.

In 2019, Barcelona is notable for being the 4th most inno-vative city in Europe —and 21st worldwide— only behind London, Paris and Berlin, according to the data analysed by the 2thinknow consultancy firm in the twelfth edition of the Innovation Cities Index 2019. At a European level, this is Barcelona's best ever result in this ranking, after climbing four places in the European classification and nine in the worldwide ranking, out of a total of 500 cities from all over the world; a positive evolution in an area that fosters and reinforces a competitive economic fabric that has increas-ingly more added value, something that is also observed for the other indicators analysed in the chapter on the hub of economic activity. In this sense, for the fourth year running, the city is one of the top 25 cities in the world in terms of global competitiveness, according to the Mori Memorial Foundation's Global Power City Index 2019, where it climbs to 22nd place. Additionally, for the fifth consecutive year, it is one of the 15 cities with the best reputation in the City RepTrak, where it comes above cities such as London, Milan and Amsterdam, despite moving down a few places in the 2018 edition. These two factors make Barcelona a very attractive destination for foreign investment, which in turn positively affects research and innovation. Barcelona has climbed two places compared to 2018, and is now the 7th urban area in the world for attracting greenfield foreign investment projects, accord-ing to KPMG’s Global Cities Investment Monitor 2019, and it stands out for its good positioning in terms of attracting R+D projects (4th global urban area). Other factors that ex-plain these good results include the number of delegates visiting the city every year (1st worldwide) and the number of congresses organised by the city (4th), according to the ICCA, as well as the entrepreneurial spirit that character-ises the city, which generates synergies conducive to of-fering a wide range of business opportunities. In 2018, the Entrepreneurial Activity Rate (TAE) published by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor rose slightly in Barcelona

to 8.6%, surpassing the average for the EU (7,7%) and the major economies of Western Europe.

In 2019, the momentum provided by the UN's Agenda 2030 and its 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) is especially noticeable. In this respect, the city, which is characterised by the progress it has made in participative strategic planning, environmental sustainability and economic and social inclu-sion, has reinforced its commitment by launching a Depu-tyMayor'sOffice forAgenda2030,DigitalTransition,Sportand Territorial and Metropolitan Coordination, as well as an Agenda 2030 Comissionate. The results of this progress are compiled in the chapter on Quality of Life, Social Cohe-sion and Sustainability, which includes two new indicators in the 2019 edition: Cities for the Best Work-Life Balance 2019 andthesustainabilityindexwithresultsfrom2018.Thefirstindicator places Barcelona 8th among cities around the world where it is possible to achieve a good work-life balance. The indicator includes the areas of travel time to work, LGTB and equality or well-being, among others. Along the same lines, the city is an international benchmark for sport, coming 7th in the Ranking of Sports Cities 2019, while coming 9th in the index for creative intensity in the European Commission's Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor 2018. It is also considered to be the 26th safest city in the world, out of the 60 cities analysed in the Safe Cities Index 2018 —where it attains 19th place for personal safety—, while also achieving positive results for sustainability: 22nd city for the environmental pillar in Sustain-able Cities Index 2018, according to the consultants Arcadis. In regard to social cohesion, it should be noted that for the first time since 2009, over half the resident population ofBarcelona lives in average-income neighbourhoods.

In terms of the job market, Barcelona is the 5th most attractive city in the world for digital talent wishing to work abroad, according to the Boston Consulting Group’s report Decoding Global Talent 2019, coming just behind London, New York, Berlin and Amsterdam. Regarding the evolution of the indicators, Catalonia registered a year-on-year increase in employment of almost 75,000 people in 2018 (on 31 December), along with a year-on-year re-duction in unemployment of nearly 28,000 people. These are both positive values, although of much lower intensity than those recorded in the years prior to the current period of economic recovery. This has led to an increase in the employment rate and a reduction in the unemploy-ment rate, but they are still a long way behind their re-spective European averages. Using Barcelona data, the city shows an employment rate that is above the European average and an unemployment rate that is closer to the EU threshold, although it is still above it (9.7% compared to 6.9% in 2018). If the data is analysed from a gender per-spective, for Catalonia, the employment rate for women is lower than the one for men, but it is above the EU average, while the unemployment rate for women is at a certain distance from the EU average and the rate for men. Pre-dictably, the biggest differences between men and women in the job market are to be found in part-time employment

BARCELONA OBSERVATORY REPORT 2019 96 Summary of results

where, in recent years, the evolution has been stable, while maintaining the differential between the two. In regard to higher education, Barcelona is one of the benchmark European cities for business studies, given that it is the only city in Europe with two educational centres (IESE and ESADE) among the seven best European business schools in 2018, according to the Financial Times. The city is also notable for a significant critical mass in qualified human capital, and in 2018, the number of workers with universi-ty qualifications increased from 45.8% to 46.9% (10 points above the EU as a whole), according to Eurostat.

In the area of knowledge and technology, in terms of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, Barcelona is still the 3rd preferred city for start-ups, according to the report Startup Heatmap Europe 2019, while coming 7th for the number of scale-ups, according to the European Commission's Startup Europe. It alsoappearsforthefirsttimeamongthetopthirtycitiesinStartup Genome's Global Startup Ecosystem Ranking for 2019. These synergies are maintained and reinforced through the organisation of technological congresses and projects in the city, such as the Mobile World Congress and 4YFN. These re-sults are reinforced with a workforce that is notable in added valuesectorsandwiththevolumeofscientificresearchthatis carried out In terms of its workforce, Catalonia is the 4th European region with the most people with higher education qualificationsworkinginscientificandtechnologicalactivities(875,000 people) and is notable for being 7th for employ-ment in knowledge-intensive services and high-tech services. Regarding research, according to the UPC's Knowl-edge Cities Ranking 2018, the city is 23rd in the world and 5th inEuropeforscientificproduction,anditisin34th place out of the 200 most important cities for science around the world, in the index compiled by the prestigious Na-ture magazine. Barcelona has demonstrated that it is an international benchmark in the use of technologies for improving the efficiency of city management. Barcelonais the world leader regarding the impact of traffic inno-vations on city residents, thanks to its smart-traffic solu-tions, infrastructures and electric vehicle charging policies, according to the new report produced by Juniper Research: Smart Cities: leading platforms, analysis of segments and fore-casts 2019-2023. A result that is made clear by Barcelona coming 28th out of the 174 cities in the smart city ranking Cities in Motion 2019, compiled by IESE.

Tourism remains one of the main pillars of the econo-my and the activity generated in the city. The balance for the tourist sector was positive in 2018, although with less intense figures than those registered in previous years, during a period of strong expansion. On both a worldwide and European scale, Barcelona is internationally considered to be a leading city for attracting visitors, as shown by the results for the main indicators. The Euromonitor International’s Top Cities Destination Ranking 2018 puts Bar-celona 31st among cities preferred by international tourists worldwide (among the top ten if the comparison is only in Europe). If the number of tourists staying overnight in the

city is taken into account, the result is even more favour-able: 7th place for Europe, according to the European Cities Marketing Benchmarking Report 2018, in a ranking led by the capital cities London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Istanbul and Madrid. The positive evolution of this demand is also ac-companied by record results recorded in the main points of access for tourists: the Port of Barcelona and the Barce-lona-El Prat airport. After eighteen consecutive years, the city's port is still leader in the Mediterranean and Europe for cruise-ship passenger traffic, with over 3 million peo-ple. Furthermore, according to the magazine Cruise Insight (autumn 2018) Barcelona is the 4th major base port in the world, climbing one place to rise above Shanghai. The air-port surpassed the figure of 50 million passengers for the first time, placing it 7th in the European ranking and 11th in terms of highest growth out of the 25 leading airports.

The main indicators for prices and costs for the first half of 2019 show a generalised increase in rentals (offices, logistics land and housing) in Barcelona. This rising trend, which began with the economic recovery, is mostly due to the lack of available supply combined with a growing glob-al demand. In spite of this, the city is still considered to be attractive and competitive in the area of companies and business compared to other cities around the world, be-cause this pressure of rising prices has also been observed in the other main metropolitan areas. Consequently, Bar-celona has maintained its position in the mid-range of the rankings for most of the analysed indicators. In regard to the various rental prices, the price for offices remains in the medium-low range, while the price for logistics land has climbed to the medium-high range and the Portal de l’Àngel is still one of the 20 most expensive streets in Eu-rope. In terms of performance, the figures are the same as for the previous year, as they are for the other cities. In the case of renting homes in the city centre, there has been an increase of 9%, but prices remain below average in the European classification, based on a consultation using Numbeo. In contrast with the rising trend in rental pric-es, Barcelona has dropped places in terms of the cost of living compared to other cities around the world in 2019, according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting, while in Europe it remains in 14th place for the third year running.

For the ninth year running, the Barcelona Observatory presents the monograph Business climate in the Bar-celona Metropolitan Area (AMB), which analyses the evolution of activity in the first three quarters of 2019 and provides a forecast for the fourth quarter of the same year. According to the results of AMB’s Business Climate Survey, which they compile together with Idescat and the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, the business world considers that business has been positive in the first three quarters of 2019, although with a lower inten-sity than in the previous year. This consolidates the de-celeration of activity that has been observed since 2016 in the AMB and since the end of 2018 worldwide and which is connected with this trend.



1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

Summary of results

1 The ranking refers to a selected sample 2 The ranking refers to regions or provinces 3 The ranking refers to countries 4 Ranking runs from low to high values

Global competitiveness

2019

Best reputation

2018

Foreign investment

projects

2018

Innovative cities

2019

Business activity rate1,3

2018

Organisation of international

congresses

2018

Best Work-life balance

2019

Safe cities

2019

Sports cities

2019

London Tokyo New York London Canada Paris Helsinki Tokyo London

New York Sydney Tokyo Paris Brazil Vienna Munich Singapore Los Angeles

Tokyo Copenhagen London Singapore United States Madrid Oslo Osaka Paris

Paris Vienna Los Angeles Dubai Netherlands Barcelona Hamburg Amsterdam Tokyo

Singapore Stockholm Singapore New York Slovenia Berlin Stockholm Sydney Lausanne

Amsterdam Venice Paris Shanghai China Lisbon Berlin Toronto New York

Seoul Rome Chicago Barcelona Ireland London Zurich Washington D.C. Barcelona

Berlin Zurich Boston Hong Kong Taiwan Singapore Barcelona Copenhagen Madrid

Hong Kong Munich San Francisco San Jose

Düsseldorf Argentina Prague Paris Seoul Beijing

Sydney Montreal Toronto São Paulo Israel Bangkok Vancouver Melbourne Manchester

Melbourne Helsinki Melbourne Madrid Barcelona Ottawa Chicago Sydney

Los Angeles Melbourne Berlin Amsterdam United Kingdom London Stockholm Chicago

Madrid Toronto Dallas-Fort Worth Tokyo Switzerland Toronto San Francisco

… Milan --- Dublin Sweden Budapest ---

22 Barcelona Barcelona 21 Barcelona Sydney Morocco Sydney 26 Barcelona



At risk of poverty or social exclusion

rate1,2,4

2018

Sustainability Index

2018

Creative and cultural cities

2018

Attractive cities for digital

talent

2019

Employment rate1,2

2018

Part-time employment

rate1,2

2018

Unemployment rate1,2,4

2018

Workers with a tertiary

education1,2

2018

Prague Stockholm Paris London Stockholm Amsterdam Prague London

Bratislava Frankfurt Munich New York Munich Rotterdam Munich Brussels

Helsinki Zurich Prague Berlin Prague Vienna Stuttgart Oslo

Stockholm Vienna Milan Amsterdam Stuttgart Frankfurt Budapest Bilbao

Warsaw Copenhagen Brussels Barcelona Amsterdam Stuttgart Frankfurt Helsinki

Milan Oslo Vienna Dubai Copenhagen Berlin Amsterdam Edinburgh

Munich Hamburg London Los Angeles Oslo Edinburgh Edinburgh Stockholm

Oslo Berlin Berlin Paris Edinburgh Copenhagen Hamburg Paris

Amsterdam Munich Barcelona Sydney Rotterdam Munich Manchester Madrid

Barcelona Montreal Budapest Abu Dhabi Frankfurt Manchester Rotterdam Copenhagen

Bern London Lyon Tokyo Helsinki Oslo London Dublin

Madrid Geneva Hamburg Toronto Berlin Montpelier Copenhagen Amsterdam

Copenhagen Ottawa Madrid San Francisco London Stockholm Tallinn Vienna

Dublin … Cologne Zurich … … … …

Bucharest 22 Barcelona Bucharest Singapore Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona


1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15


Business schools

2019

Favourite cities for establishing

a start-up

2019

Scale-up city hubs

2018

Scientific production

2018

People employed in high and

medium-high technology

manufacturing2

2018

Workers in science

and technology2

2018

Airports passengers

2018

International tourists

2018

London London Beijing Stuttgart Paris Hong Kong

Berlin Paris London Milan Madrid Bangkok

Barcelona Stockholm Shanghai Munich Istanbul London

Paris Berlin New York Barcelona Barcelona Macau

Amsterdam Dublin Boston Istanbul Lyon Singapore

Lisbon Helsinki Nanjing Turin Milan Paris

Munich Barcelona Seoul Bologna Munich Dubai

Milan Amsterdam Tokyo Karlsruhe Warsaw New York

Tallinn Copenhagen Paris Bursa, Eskişehir, Bilecik Seville Kuala Lumpur

Stockholm Madrid Guangzhou Düsseldorf Berlin Delhi

... Milan Wuhan Tübingen London Shenzhen

... Oslo Xi’an Katowice Rome Istanbul

... Zurich Madrid Lyon Rotterdam Phuket

… Zug … Cologne Cologne …

... Vienna 23 Barcelona Paris Stuttgart 31 Barcelona

FontainebleauInsead

Londres London

Business School

BarcelonaIESE Business

School

OxfordUniversity of Oxford: Saïd

Cambridge University of

Cambridge: Judge

ParisHEC París

BarcelonaESADE Business School

LausanneIMD

MadridIE Business School

MilanSDA Bocconi

CoventryWarwick Business School

LondonImperial College Business School

DurhamDurham University

Business School

RotterdamRotterdam School of

Management

ManchesterAlliance Manchester

Business School

LondonHeathrow

(LHR)

Paris-Roissy (CDG)

Amsterdam (AMS)

Frankfurt (FRA)

Istanbul (IST)

Madrid (MAD)

Barcelona (BCN)

Munich (MUC)

London-Gatwick(LGW)

Moscou Xeremétievo

(SVO)

Roma-Fiumicino(FCO)

Istanbul(SAW)

Paris-Orly (ORY)

Antalya (AYT)

Dublin(DUB)



Cruise passengers

2018

Cost of living

2019

Corporation tax1,3

2019

Office rental prices

2019

Commercial premises rental

prices

2019

Logistics land rental

prices

2019

Housing rental prices

2019

Salary levels

2018

Miami Hong Kong France London London London Geneva (WE) (Heathrow)

Port Canaveral Tokyo Japan Paris Geneva Geneva Zurich (CBD)

Port Everglades Singapore India London Zurich Zurich Luxembourg (City)

Barcelona Seoul Germany Geneva Oslo Dublin Los Angeles

Shanghai Zurich Argentina Zurich Helsinki Amsterdam Copenhagen

Southampton Shanghai Australia Dublin Stockholm Luxembourg Oslo (South)

Galveston Ashgabat Belgium Moscow Edinburgh Reykjavík New York

Singapore Beijing Greece Luxembourg Dublin Lausanne Miami

Sydney New York South Africa Milan Luxembourg Oslo Vienna

Venice Shenzhen United States Paris Glasgow Paris Chicago (La Défense)

Long Beach N’Djamena Canada Frankfurt Amsterdam Cambridge Toronto (Schipol)

New Orleans Bern Austria Oslo Bristol Oxford Munich

New York Geneva South Korea Munich Birmingham Copenhagen Stockholm

Seattle … Luxembourg … … … …

Tampa 91 Barcelona Barcelona 28 Barcelona 16 Barcelona 29 Barcelona 30 Barcelona

Hong Kong Causeway Bay

New York Upper 5th Avenue

London New Bond Street

Paris Avenue des

Champs-Élysées

Milan Via Montenapoleone

Tokyo Ginza

Sydney Pitt Street Mall

Zurich Bahnhofstrasse

Seoul Myeongdong

Vienna Kohlmarkt

Beijing Wangfujing

Munich Kaufinger/Neuhauser

Dublin Grafton Street

Athens Ermou

Barcelona Portal de l’Àngel

Global competitiveness. 2019

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 22

London New York Tokyo Paris Singapore Amsterdam Seoul Berlin Hong Kong Sydney Melbourne Los Angeles Madrid ... Barcelona

Best reputation. 2018

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Tokyo Sydney Copenhagen Vienna Stockholm Venice Rome Zurich Munich Montreal Helsinki Melbourne Toronto Milan Barcelona

Positioning of Barcelona in international cities rankings


European airports by passenger volume. 2018

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

London Heathrow

(LHR)

Paris Roissy (CDG)

Amsterdam (AMS)

Frankfurt (FRA)

Istanbul (IST)

Madrid (MAD)

Barcelona (BCN)

Munich (MUC)

London Gatwick (LGW)

Moscow Xeremétievo

(SVO)

Rome Fiumicino

(FCO)

Istanbul (SAW)

Paris Orly

(ORY)

Antalya (AYT)

Dublin (DUB)

Innovative cities. 2019

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 21

New York Tokyo London Los Angeles Singapore Paris Chicago Boston San Francisco-San Jose

Toronto Melbourne Berlin Dallas- Fort Worth

… Barcelona

Cost of living. 2019

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 91

Hong Kong Tokyo Singapore Seoul Zurich Shanghai Ashgabat Beijing New York Shenzhen N'Djamena Bern Geneva ... Barcelona

Salary levels. 2018

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 30

Geneva Zurich Luxembourg Los Angeles Copenhagen Oslo New York Miami Vienna Chicago Toronto Munich Stockholm … Barcelona

Foreign investment projects. 2018

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

London Paris Singapore Dubai New York Shanghai Barcelona Hong Kong Düsseldorf São Paulo Madrid Amsterdam Tokyo Dublin Sydney

Safe cities. 2019

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 26

Tokyo Singapore Osaka Amsterdam Sydney Toronto Washington DC

Conpenhagen Seoul Melbourne Chicago Stockholm San Francisco ... Barcelona

European business schools MBA ranking. 2019

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Fontainebleau Insead

London London

Business School

Barcelona IESE Business

School

Oxford University of Oxford:

Saïd

Cambridge University of Cambridge:

Judge

Paris HEC París

Barcelona ESADE Business

School

Lausanne IMD

Madrid IE Business

School

Milan SDA Bocconi

Coventry Warwick Business School

London Imperial

College Business School

Durham Durham

University Business School

Rotterdam Rotterdam School of

Management

Manchester Alliance

Manchester Business School

Scientific production. 2018

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Beijing London Shanghai New York Boston Nanjing Seoul Tokyo Paris Guangzhou Wuhan Xi'an Madrid ... Barcelona

Favourite European cities for establishing a start-up. 2019

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

London Berlin Barcelona Paris Amsterdam Lisbon Munich Milan Tallinn Stockholm ... ... ... ... ...

Best Work-life balance. 2019

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Helsinki Munich Oslo Hamburg Stockholm Berlin Zurich Barcelona Paris Vancouver Ottawa London Toronto Budapest Sydney

Attractive cities for digital talent. 2019

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

London New York Berlin Amsterdam Barcelona Dubai Los Angeles Paris Sydney Abu Dhabi Tokyo Toronto San Francisco Zurich Singapore

23

SPECIAL REPORT

Business Cl imate in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona

Evolution 2018 and 2019

Executive summary

Positive but more moderate results for 2019

The first three quarters of 2019 recordedpositive results in the AMB’s Business Climate Survey, but of a lower intensity than the three previous years, in line with the economic situation:

• Business continues to perform positively and employment is practically stable, with both variables obtaining their least favoura-ble results since 2015.

• Sales prices increased slightly.

• In 2018, investment continued its positive trend, in line with the previous two years.

Less favourable results in commerce, industry and all other services

The more moderate results in 2019 occurred in nearly all the sectors analysed in the survey, withsomedifferences:

• Construction is the sector with the most positive results for business performance and it is the only sector that has improved in all the variables.

• Hotels and restaurants present the most positive balances for employment and sales prices.

• Commerce stands out for being the sector with the least favourable result in business performance and a negative result for em-ployment.

• Industry and other services present positive results (except for employment in industry), while being stable or more moderate than previous years.

An increase in competition, the most limiting factor for good business performance

The factors limiting good business perfor-mance in 2018:

• For the first time since 2009, increasedcompetition is the factor mentioned by business owners most often, although it has lost some relevance for the second consecutive year.

• A weakness in demand, which has lost im-portance for the sixth year running, is the second most common factor.

• The fourth factor, difficulties with funding,has been gradually losing relevance since 2013, and has been replaced in third place bythelackofqualifiedworkers.

Prospects for the fourth quarter

• The prospects for business performance in the fourth quarter of 2019 are positive in comparison with the previous quarter, but are slightly more moderate in all sec-tors compared to the third quarter of the previous year, except in the case of ho-tels and restaurants.

• Employment forecasts are negative for all the activities except in other services, while for sales prices, forecasts point to-wards a slight decrease, except in com-merce (for seasonal reasons) and other services.

BARCELONA OBSERVATORY REPORT 2019 107 Business Climate in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona

Business performance. Evolution and prospects

The AMB as a whole

In 2018, the Catalan economy was very dynamic and closed the year with an economic growth of 2.6%, which is above average for the Eurozone, according to Idescat (Statisti-cal Institute of Catalonia). Activity recorded a considera-ble deceleration, however, especially in the second half of the year. This global trend has affected both the European and other advanced economies. It is the result of trading tensions, uncertainty about the outcome of the prolonged Brexit saga, the slow-down in the automotive industry and the macroeconomic situation of countries like Argentina and Turkey. This global context of change towards a more moderate phase of the cycle has continued throughout 2019 and is not expected to change in 2020. The forecast is therefore for the Catalan economy to grow at around 2% in 2019 and 1.7% in 2020.

Regarding the big economic sectors, in 2018 and so far in 2019, construction is the most dynamic sector, followed by services. These two trends are confirmed in the survey, except in the case of commerce. In contrast, everything points to growth in industry being practically zero this year, after the slow-down it suffered in 2018. In terms of demand, the deceleration has been felt in both imports and exports, although it is hoped that the exterior sec-tor will provide a positive contribution to growth in 2019, unlike in 2018. The other components (public and private consumption) have also become more moderate, but an increase in annual investment of 3% is forecast for the close of the year. In regard to other indicators, the infla-tion rate will remain at around 1% in 2019 and an increase in the employment rate of around 2% is expected (less intense than the 2.7% in 2018).

In this economic context, the evolution of business perfor-mance was favourable for 2018 as a whole and for the first three quarters of 2019, in both the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) and Catalonia, according to the Business Climate Survey, produced by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and Idescat. The economic recovery in business perfor-mance was observed in the positive results recorded in 2015, reaching its maximum expression the following year in the AMB and in 2017 in Catalonia. Since then, the response percentages have gradually become more moderate. A trend that will become more accentuated as the global economic deceleration progresses. The forecasts for the fourth quar-ter already indicate this for Catalonia as a whole, unlike the Metropolitan Area, where a slight upturn in business perfor-mance is expected in comparison with the previous quarter.


1. Theresultsfortheeconomyasawholearetheaggregateoftheresultsforin-dustry, construction, commerce, hotels and restaurants and other services. Re-sults for Spain have not been presented in the survey since 2013, because they are not available. The INE (Spanish Statistical Office) only publishes the results of the Business Climate Indicator, compiled for Spain as a whole and by sector.

2. Thebalance is thedifferencebetween thepercentageofbusinessestablish-ments which state that the analysed variable has been positive and the percen-tage of establishments that state that it has been negative. It should be noted that, in the case of the hotels and restaurants sector, the balances present seasonal differences, but the series are too short to divide by season.

Annual business performance across the whole of the economy1

(balances2, in %)

2014 -4-6

2016 1513

2013 -25-27

2015 129

2017 1315

2018 1111

I-III 2019 87

Source: Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and Idescat.

AMB Catalunya

Quarterly evolution of business performance(Balances, in %)

CataloniaAMB


14

21

15

910

15

910

5

11

65

16 16

12

57

15

7

12

3

13

7 7

I-17 II-17 III-17 IV-17 I-18 II-18 III-18 IV-18 I-19 II-19 III-19 IV-19 (p)

Economic sectors

2018 was a positive year for the AMB in general terms, accord-ing to business owners, but less favourable than the previous year. By sector, hotels and restaurants and other services ob-tained the best results, both with a balance of 13% (the dif-ference between positive and negative responses), followed by commerce (10%), industry (8%) and construction (6%) in lastplace.Regardingtheresultsforthefirstthreequartersof2019, the sector analysis shows favourable values marked by a downward trend, except for the construction sector, which is the only one where business performance has improved com-pared to 2018, showing the best results since the economic crisis (11%). For the rest of the activities, hotels and restau-rants and other services show the second highest values (both at 10%). although they are lower than in 2018. Similarly, indus-try remains stable, compared to the results presented in the last two years, at 6%, although this percentage is much lower than the 14% recorded in 2016. In last place, commerce shows asignificantfallincomparisonwiththefiguresforthepreviousthreeyears,droppingtoaslightlypositivefigure(3%).

Regarding the fourth quarter of 2019, the results for indus-try and construction are expected to get worse, while com-merce improves with the coming Christmas campaign, after the globally unfavourable results in the third quarter. Busi-ness performance for hotels and restaurants and other ser-viceswillmaintaintheirpositivefigures,inlinewiththelatestresults. In spiteof thedifferencesbetween the sectors, thebusiness world expects to close the year with favourable busi-ness-performance results in all the AMB’s economic sectors.


Quarterly evolution of business performance in the AMB by sector(Balances, in %)

Industry Construction Retail Hospitality Resta de serveis


16

24 15

9 8

18

8

15

8

15

810

56

36

18

-18

10

22

5

15

9 913 13

7

20 19

8 712 9

13

-1

11

-1

7

13 107

1-3

13

4

9 913

10

2

15

-31

59

13

6 6

-2

128

4

I-17

0

II-17 III-17 IV-17 I-18 II-18 III-18 IV-18 I-19 II-19 III-19 IV-19 (p)

Industry

Construction

Commerce

Hotels and restaurants

Other services

14

1

13

39

8

6

10

13

16

4

8

14

23

14

6

11

3

10

1310

Annual evolution of business performance in the AMB by sector(balances, in %)


2016 2017 2018 2019 (I-III)

Factors that limited good business performance in 2018

According to business owners in the AMB, increased com-petition is the factor that most limited good business per-formance in 2018 (last available data, as the factors that limit goodbusinessperformanceonlyfigureinsurveyquestionsinthe last quarter of the year, referring to the year as a whole) unlike the previous year when weakness of demand was the most worrying factor. The results for both factors are, howev-er,veryclosetogetherandaresignificantlydifferentfromtheother variables. An analysis of the evolution since 2015 shows that the recovery in private consumption has caused weak-nessofdemandtoprogressivelylosesignificanceasalimitingfactor. By contrast, the improvement in economic activity has been accompanied by the appearance of start-ups that have created more competition among business owners. In regard to the other factors, an expansive monetary policy has meant that,ingeneral,difficultywithfundinghasnotbeenalimitingfactor, while the lack of an adequate workforce has become more significant in recent years (rising from 8% in 2014 to20% in 2018). It is the only factor where the percentage of responses increased in comparison with 2017.

The same structure of limiting factors for business perfor-mance is reproduced by sectos, sas in the economy as a whole,butwithdifferingintensities.Forexample,accordingtothe sample used in the Business Climate Survey, increased com-petition as an impediment to good business performance is accentuated in commerce, where 65% of the sector's business owners say that it has been a limiting factor, which is 16 points above average. By contrast, the lack of an adequate workforce is the problem mentioned most in industry and construction, with 26% and 29% of answers respectively; this factor has gained weighting in the last two years. Furthermore, compared to the other sectors, funding is still a problem in construction. It must be remembered, however, that the percentage of re-sponseshasfallensignificantlysince2009(from57%to27%).

If the results for the AMB are compared with those for Cat-alonia as a whole, lthe classification of limiting factors for business performance is the same as in 2018, and with sim-ilar intensities. This means that increased competition as a limiting factor is a conclusion that can also be extrapolated to Catalonia, together with weakness of demand as the sec-ond factor, all presenting similar values (47% and 45% of answers, respectively). At a sector level, increased compe-tition as a limiting factor is also notable in commerce (50% of answers), with hotels and restaurants having the same percentage of answers. In regard to the global evolution of the factors, this has been very similar to the Metropolitan Area, both during the crisis and the economic recovery.


Increased competition

Weakness of demand

Lack of adequate workforce

Difficulties in funding and liquidity

Production team insufficiency

49

43

20

15

47

45

23

16

6

51

53

17

19

5

51

54

20

20

68

Factors that limit good business performance in the economy as a whole(in %)

Source: Barcelona Chamber of Commerce and Idescat .

2018 AMB 2017 AMB 2018 CAT 2017 CAT

Increased competition

Weakness of demand

Lack of adequate workforce

Financial difficulties

Inadequate equipment

44

46

26

10

65

45

13

14

4

48

41

29

27

7

4246

4538

1021

917

51

6

Factors that limit good business performance in the AMB by sector. 2018(in %)


Industry Construction Retail Hospitaliy Other services

0

The AMB as a whole

In the first three quarters of 2019, the average sales prices in the AMB were slightly positive. The balance was around 2%, the result of the difference between business owners who said that sales prices had increased (8%) and those that said that they had decreased (6%) The forecasts for the fourth quarter, however, indicate a slight fall in prices, a result which would lead to a stabilisation for 2019 as a whole, which would be in line with the results for the two previous years.

A trend of decelerated activity, which has been observed in the AMB since 2016 and since the end of 2018 worldwide, has nowaffectedemployment forthefirst timesincetheeco-nomic recovery began. In 2019, the evolution of employment in the AMB has been less positive than in 2018, with a fall in the percentage of business owners who state that employ-ment has risen, while the percentage of those that believe employment has fallen has remained the same. The balance for employment reached an average of 3% up to the end of the third quarter, compared to 7% for 2018. The quarterly results show stagnation in employment for the third quarter, something that has not happened in any quarter since the beginning of 2015. The forecast for employment in the fourth quarter is slightly negative (-2%), which would result in the stabilisation of employment for the year as a whole.

Throughout 2018 (the last available data, as there are only questions in the Survey about this variable in the last quar-ter of the year, in reference to the year as a whole), invest-ment recorded a positive balance for the fifth year running.

Investment is the variable that presented the most positive balance in 2018. In comparison with the previous year, this balance is maintained, due to the number of positive and negative responses (around 24% and 11%, respectively) being the same. The forecast for 2019, however, is a de-celeration of growth in investment, given the evolution of gross fixed capital formation in Catalonia, which according to Idescat (Statistical Institute of Catalonia) data, recorded an average increase of 2.1% at the end of the second quar-ter (compared to 4.9% for the same period in 2018).

OBSERVATORI BARCELONA 2019 111 Clima empresarial a l’Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona

Evolution and prospects of the main business variables

Business performance

Sales prices

Employment

Investment

15

-3

5

15

11

0

7

13

13

-1

6

13

8

2

3

Annual evolution of the main business variables in the AMB(balances, in %)


2016 2017 2018 2019 (I-III)


Quarterly evolution of the main business variables in the AMB(balances, in %)

Business performance Sales prices Employment

8 8

45

4

12

5

8

1

7

0

-3

6

0

-3 -4

8

-1-3

-2

5

3

-2 -2

16 16

12

57

15

7

12

3

13

7 7


0

Sector results

If the results are analysed by sector (until the end of the third quarter of 2019), construction is the only sector that improves in all of the variables in comparison to 2018 and obtains the best positive result for business performance. Hotels and restaurants improve on employment and sales prices, obtaining the most favourable balances. Indus-try and other services present positive results (except for employment in the case of industry), while being stable or more moderate than previous years. Commerce shows a significant fall in comparison with the figures for the last three years, dropping to a slightly positive figure.

Industry

The industry sector in the AMB shows positive results for all the analysed variables, except employment. Business performance is slightly more moderate in 2019, achieving its second least positive balance since 2015 (6%). The data for industrial production published by the INE for Catalo-nia points to a slightly negative dynamic for the first nine months of 2019 (-0.8% until September, compared to 2.3% for the same period in 2018).

Meanwhile, sales prices showed very stable behaviour that was similar to the previous year, which is in contrast to the downward trend recorded since 2009. Up to the third quar-ter, the percentage of business owners who pointed to an increase in prices and those that opted for a decrease both stayed at very nearly 8% in 2018 and in 2019, resulting in a

positive balance of 1% for both years. For the fourth quar-ter, however, business owners foresee a slight decrease in sales prices, which would give a stagnation of prices as the result for the entire year.

BARCELONA OBSERVATORY REPOR 2019 112 Business Climate in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona

Quarterly evolution of the main business variables for industry in the AMB(saldos, en %)

Business performance Invoicing abroad Sales prices Employment

3

-4

-6

-4

8

-1

-5

-2

5

1

-5-6

3

-3-4

-1

3

02

0

-5

5

3

-2

15

3 4

-3

11

5

11

2

12

-4-2 -2

-3-3

1

5

9

13

6 6

-2

12

8

4




Invoicing abroad

14

8

8

1

4

-1

Investment23

172

6

1

Sales prices

-5

0-3

1

Employment

5

74

-3

Annual evolution of the main business variables for industry in the AMB(balances, in %)


2016 2017 2018 2019 (I-III)

Employment in the industry sector obtained a slightly neg-ative result for the first time since 2015. Exports abroad in the industry sector remained practically stable in compari-son to the previous year (1%). Forecasts for the fourth quar-ter point towards a slight reduction in exports, which would lead to stagnation in invoicing abroad for 2019 as a whole. Figures for investment are only available up to 2018, and they show the second most positive balance in recent years, and are the best out of all the sectors analysed, along with hotels and restaurants (17%). Furthermore, there is a nota-ble improvement compared to 2017, with the percentage of business owners noting an improvement in investment rising from 25% in 2017 to 32% in 2018, while the number signalling a downward trend was reduced by nearly half, from 23% in 2017 to 15% in 2018.

Construction

In contrast to previous years, the construction sector in the AMB shows positive results in all the analysed variables and also improved results in comparison with the previous year.

This has been possible due to the consolidation of the recov-ery shown in construction since 2016, after a tough readjust-ment process that began in the middle of 2008. In fact, the sector recorded a positive Gross Value Added (GAV) rate in 2014 and it is the sector that has grown most since 2016, but the rate of growth decelerated in 2018. This trend of more moderategrowthwasmaintainedinthefirstthreequartersof 2019, but it is still the sector with most growth (an average of4.4%).Ineffect,anindicatorofresidentialactivityinCata-lonia, such as property mortgages (in number and amount)

continued to increase up to August 2019, but at a slower rate than the previous year. This trend is also seen in the number of homes under construction or completed. The leading indi-cator for construction activity, however, the consumption of cement, experienced an overall rise of 21% up to September 2019, in contrast to -2.3% for the same period in the previ-ous year. Along these lines, business performance in con-struction gave the highest positive balance of all the major economic sectors and it also increased in comparison with the previous year, where the percentage of business own-


Marxa dels negocis

Preus de venda

Ocupació

Inversió

1

-5

-1

-1

6

0

5

11

8

-1

0

18

11

1

6

Evolució anual de les principals variables empresarials a la construcció a l’AMB(saldos, en %)

Source: Cambra de Comerç de Barcelona i Idescat

2016 2017 2018 2019 (I-III)

Source: Cambra de Comerç de Barcelona i Idescat

Evolució trimestral de les principals variables empresarials a la construcció a l’AMB(saldos, en %)

Marxa dels negocis Preus de venda Ocupació

20

-13 -11

45

12

-3

8 5

13

0

-21

6

2

-2

-10

3

-4

03

5

0-2

-5

1310

7

1

-3

13

4

9 9

137

2


0

ers with a favourable opinion (22%) was double that of those with an unfavourable opinion (11%), giving a balance of 11% (6% in 2018). For the fourth quarter, business owners fore-see a positive performance in construction, but with a lower intensity than in the other sectors.

Sales prices continue to be very close to stable for the third year running, although as the year progressed, they started going down and ended up falling (a balance of -2%). For the fourth quarter, business owners foresee that this decrease will become more acute (-5%).

Construction obtained the second best sector result for employment (only below hotels and restaurants) and an improvement on the previous year (something that also oc-curred in hotels and restaurants). An improvement was ob-served until the end of the second quarter, while the third quarter recorded a levelling-off in employment, according to business owners, while the forecast is for a sharp de-crease in the last three months of the year. Lastly, invest-ment in construction was positive in 2018, but it did not improve in comparison with 2017 (11% and 18%, respec-tively): the percentage of business owners who pointed to a growth in investment went down from 24% in 2017 to 21% in 2018, while those forecasting a decrease rose from 6% in 2017 to 10% in 2018.

Commerce

Overall, the commerce sector in the AMB recorded the worst sector results for 2019, the balance for business per-formance is the least positive, employment is negative for the first time since 2015 and sales prices continue to fall slightly and in a similar way as in the two previous years. These results are not, however, in line with the growth in home consumption up to the end of the second quarter (1.4%) and the sales index for retail commerce in Catalonia, which, up to the end of September, recorded an accumulat-ed growth of 1.6% on constant prices (-0.1% for the same period the year before).

Business performance in the AMB's commerce sector is slightly positive for the third quarter of 2019, but with a lower intensity than in the four previous years. This data has been recorded because of a decrease in the percent-age of business owners who say that business performance has gone down (from 27% in 2017 to 21% in 2018), while the proportion of those that say business performance has been unfavourable has increased (from 16% in 2017 to 22% in 2018). A positive balance was achieved in the second quarter, in contrast to negative balances of -1% in the first

and third quarters. Business owners in the sector foresee a positive balance in the fourth quarter, due to the Christmas campaign.

The fall in sales prices became more acute as the year progressed. In spite of this, business owners foresee prices becoming stable in the fourth quarter. It must be said that strong competition from online sales platforms are pushing prices down in the sector.

In terms of employment, the average balance was slight-ly negative up to the end of the third quarter, something that has not happened since 2014. In spite of the Christmas campaign, the forecast for the fourth quarter is a negative result of the same intensity (-3%), which contrasts with the positive forecast of the previous year (12%).

Meanwhile, the positive balance recorded for investment in 2018 was much more moderate in comparison with the three previous years (4% in 2018 compared with an aver-age of 17% for 2015-2017). The rising trend that began in 2014 has therefore been interrupted. The percentage of business owners who point to an increase in investment is slightly greater than those noting a decrease, 18% and 14% respectively (compared to 27% and 7% in 2018, re-spectively).



Sales prices

Employment

Investment

13

-5

5

16

10

-2

8

4

14

-2

13

19

3

-3

-1

Annual evolution of the main business variables for commerce in the AMB(balances, in %)


2016 2017 2018 2019 (I-III)

0


The hotel and restaurant sector recorded the second best results for business performance in the AMB for 2019 (first three quarters). The good performance of this busi-ness sector is in line with the positive results recorded for tourism in Catalonia for the same period. In accumulated terms, up to the end of September, there was a slight in-crease in foreign tourists (0.6%), along with a more signif-icant increase in overnight stays (3%). It should also be noted that a noticeable increase in declared per-person expenditure has been observed (an accumulated figure of 3.7% until September) which means greater generated wealth for the economic activity.

The business performance for hotels and restaurants has therefore been favourable, with a balance of 10%, where the percentage of business owners who think the trend is favourable has remained stable in comparison with 2018, but the proportion who think it has been unfavourable has risen slightly. It should also be remembered that this is a sector where results have been notably more moderate, es-pecially since recording a maximum in 2016. For the fourth quarter, business owners foresee a similar result to the pre-vious quarter, while being slightly more moderate than the year before.

According to business owners, this is the sector that has recorded the biggest increase in sales prices in 2019, with a balance of 16% (14 points above the average for the econ-omy). This significant increase was produced after a consid-

erable reduction in the balance recorded in 2018 (-10%), and it is in line with the values recorded at the beginning of the recovery. This change in trend could be related to the increase in the quality of tourism noted above as well as to greater demand.

There was a notable increase in the number of people employed in the sector in 2019, compared to the three previous years. With a balance of 9%, it is the sector with



Quarterly evolution of the main business variables for COMMERCE in the AMB(balances, in %)


10

17

14 14

5

13

68

-3

5

-4

-3

0-2

-5

-2

8

-1

-8-7

0

-2

-6

0

7

2019

87

12

9

13

-1

11

-1

7



Sales prices

Employment

Investment

39

12

-4

20

13

-10

-1

17

23

1

-14

15

10

16

9

Annual evolution of the main business variables for hotels and restaurants in the AMB(balances, in %)


2016 2017 2018 2019 (I-III)

0

the best job market results, with an increase in the num-ber of business owners who think that it has increased, while the number who affirm it has decreased has gone down. In spite of this, the forecast for the fourth quarter is for stability, according to business owners.

In 2018, investment in the sector was one of the most pos-itive out of all the activities, with a balance 17%, coming only behind industry. This is a slight improvement on the pre-vious year, due to a larger proportion of business owners who say that this has increased in contrast to an increase in the number who believe it has decreased.

Other services

For the first three quarters of 2019, the other services sector (services other than commerce and hotels and restaurants) in the AMB obtained very positive figures for the variables as a whole. In comparison with the other sectors, it obtained the third best balance for business performance (10.2%), coming just behind construction (11%) and one decimal point less than the figure for ho-tels and restaurants (10.3%). This percentage is because 21% of business owners believe that the trend is favour-able, while 11% believe it is unfavourable. The favoura-ble proportion has fallen moderately compared to 2018 (23%), while the unfavourable proportion has increased by 1%. In comparison to previous years, the sector has shown a gradual, moderate deceleration since 2016, when it recorded its highest balance (16%) since the start of the economic recovery. It should be remembered that this sector, along with hotels and restaurants, is where the activity first showed signs of recovery.

In regard to sales prices in 2019, this is one of the sectors where sales prices have increased the most, only behind - but a long way behind - hotels and restaurants. The differ-ence between 7% of business owners who affirm that prices have gone up, compared to 3% who believe they have gone down, gives a positive balance of 4%. This is the same level as in 2018, and it consolidates the gradual upturn that has been recorded since 2017. This balance slightly above sta-bility is in line with the more moderate figures observed in inflation for Catalonia as a whole during the year.



Quarterly evolution of the main business variables for hotels and restaurants in the AMB(balances, in %)


6

-13

-21

-29

0 -13

-8

1217

-1

-16

139 10

-26

10

-26

-14-10

1

33

15

-2

56

36

18

-18

10

22

5

15

9 913 13



Sales prices

Employment

Investment

14

-4

9

11

13

4

9

14

16

1

8

15

10

4

6

Annual evolution of the main business variables for other services in the AMB(balances, in %)

Source: CBarcelona Chamber of Commerce and Idescat.

2016 2017 2018 2019 (I-III)

0

Quant al mercat de treball a la resta de serveisIn oth-er services, employment has become more moderate in 2019 compared to the four previous years, but it shows a positive result. It has the second best sector result, to-gether with construction, and it is slightly above the av-erage for the economy. The deceleration in employment, due to the slow-down in the economy, became evident for the first time, especially from the third quarter of 2019 onwards, where the balance was 2%. The results for investment were positive, with a 13% balance in 2018, while being slightly below the average for the economy. This result shows a certain amount of moderation com-pared to 2017, but it maintains significantly better figures than at the start of the recovery.

The other services sector therefore records results that are positive overall, but marked by the deceleration in growth experienced on a global scale in the last nine months, as well as by a reduction in the growth of home consumption. The forecasts for the fourth quarter of 2019 are positive and maintain the same level as the third quarter.

Comparison with Catalonia

In the evolution of the economy as a whole for the first three quarters of 2019, the Metropolitan Area and Catalo-nia present very similar positive results for business per-formance, favourable in both cases, with balances of 8% and 7% respectively. The trend for sales prices and employ-ment, however, show better results for Catalonia than for the Metropolitan Area, where they are practically stagnant.

By sector, business performance éis the most favoura-ble for Catalonia, but less so for industry and commerce, the only case where the balance of answers was negative (-2%). In terms of sales prices, ethe results for the two territories are very similar, except for commerce, where they decrease in the AMB and are stable in Catalonia. Lastly, in regard to employment, there are notably good results for hotels and restaurants in Catalonia (15% ver-sus 9% in the AMB), and the favourable results in industry and commerce, while in the AMB, the balance of respons-es for these activities is negative (-3% and -1%, respec-tively), according to business owners.




Quarterly evolution of the main business variables for other services in the AMB(balances, in %)

8

1311

2

5

14

9 9

12

12

2 2

9

0

-3

-1

9

4

1 1

9

20 0

16

24

15

9 8

18

8

15

8

15

810



Main business variables with Catalonia. 2019 (IT-IIIT)(balances, in %)

The economy as a whole

Construction


Commerce

Other services

Industry






Sales prices

Sales prices

Sales prices

Sales prices

Sales prices

Employment

Employment

Employment

Employment

Employment


AMB

AMB

AMB

AMB

AMB

AMB

Catalonia

Catalonia

Catalonia

Catalonia

Catalonia

Catalonia

8

11

10

6

10

2

1

16

-3

4

7

11

14

-2

12


65

Invoicing abroad

1-14

2

15

0

5

Sales prices

11

3

6

9

-1

6

6

3

15

3

8

Employment 2-3


Appendix on methodology

Sectors featured in the Business Climate Survey

Industry

01 Food, beverages and tobacco (CCAE-2009: 10 to 12)

02 Textiles, clothes manufacturing, leather and footwear (CCAE-2009: 13 to 15)

03 Wood and cork industries, paper and graphic arts (CCAE-2009: 16 to 18)

04 Chemical industries, rubber and other non-metal mineral products (CCAE-2009: 20 to 23)

05 Metalworking and manufacture of metal products (CCAE-2009: 24 and 25)

06 Production of machinery and mechanical and electrical equipment, and IT, electronic and optical products (CCAE-2009: 26 to 28)

07 Other industries (CCAE-2009: 05 to 09, 19, 29 to 33, 35 to 39)

Construction

The whole of Section F of the CCAE-2009 is taken into account:

41 Real-estate construction

42 Civil engineering construction

43 Specialist construction activities

Commerce

01 Retail trade in food, beverages and tobacco products in specialist establishments (CCAE-2009: 472)

02 Retail trade in domestic, cultural and recreational products in specialist establishments (CCAE: 475 and 476)

03 Other types of retail trade (CCAE-2009: 473, 474, 477, 478, 479)

04 Retail trade in non-specialist establishments (CCAE-2009: 471)

05 Sale and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (CCAE-2009: 45)

06 Wholesale and intermediaries (CCAE-2009: 46)


CCAE-2009: 55 and 56

55 Accommodation services

56 Food and drink services

Other services

01 Information and communications (CCAE-2009: 58 to 63)

02 Legal and accountancy activities (CCAE-2009: 69)

03 R&D, advertising and market studies and scientific and technical activities (CCAE-2009: 71 to 75)

04 Administrative activities and auxiliary services (CCAE-2009: 77 to 82)

05 Other services (CCAE-2009: 49 to 53, 64 to 66, 68, 92, 93 and 96)

3. Maximumpossibleerrorcalculatedonthebasisofasinglerandomsample.

Industry 173 7,4%

Sectors Sample Error3

* Average for quarters I-III.

Source: Cambra de Comerç de Barcelona and Idescat.

Sampling errors. Metropolitan Area of Barcelona 2019*

Construction 87 10,5%

Commerce 211 6,8%

Hotels and restaurants 72 11,6%

Other services 494 4,4%

Total 1.037 3,0%

2 0 1 9 r e p o r t - barcelona.cat...the barcelona observatory presents its 2019 report, which...

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