Foreign companies in Spain
According to the most recent report Foreign Multinationals in Spain, in 2013 the number of foreign affiliates was 10,722 (34.4% of Spanish large-sized companies).
Taxes
A Spanish worker dedicates an average of 180 days of salary each year to pay direct and indirect taxes, principally through Social Security contributions*(102 days) and IRPF (personal income tax) (37 days). In constant terms, workers dedicate 18 years of their working life paying taxes.
By Autonomous Communities, the three with the greatest tax burden are:
- Catalonia
- Castilla –La Mancha
- Cantabria
Competitiveness rankings
According to the Global Manufacturing Compe-titiveness Index (Deloitte), the three leading countries in manufacturing competitiveness are China, the USA and Germany. Of 40 countries analyzed, Spain was ranked number 25 (down two positions since 2013).
For its part, in the 2016 IMD World Competitiveness Scoreboard, of 61 countries ranked, Spain is in position 34 (it was 37th in 2015). The list is headed by Hong Kong, Switzer-land and the USA. This year there is a nota-ble rise in Ireland and The Netherlands to reach the top 10: they rose 9 and 7 positions respectively.
Quantitative Easing (QE) BCE
Following the announcement in March of the program by the European Central Bank for corporate bonds, the issuance of this kind of debt by the companies has grown 80% with respect to the same period of the previous year. In addition, the profitability of investment grade debt has dropped by 100 basic points.
Financial Markets
The uncertainty over the Brexit matter has generated some strong volatility and made “safe” investments (gold, German bonds…) more attractive.
For the first time ever, the profitability of 10-year German debt is negative and joins the more than 6.4 trillion euros of European debt in circulation with negative interest rates (Bloomberg). * Spanish 10y government yield: 1.5 % (22/06/2016)
Energy investment and supply
The U. S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that in May the offer of crude oil fell by 3.6 million barrels with regard to the previous month, principally because of the fires in the oil sands in Alberta (Canada) and the attacks on petroleum infrastructures in Nigeria.**
According to Bloomberg, capital expendture in the energy and industrial sectors in the US will drop by 30% and 24% respectively, because of the decline in profits caused by low petroleum prices. Nevertheless, the price of crude oil has risen 80% since the minimums registered in February.
Labour absenteeism
According to Adecco, in 2015 absenteeism from work rose in Spain for the second consecutive year to 4.7% (4.4% the previous year). The direct cost for the companies was 3,857 million euros, and 5,132 million euros for Social Security. Finally, opportunity costs in terms of goods and services production rose to 52,387 million euros.