The digital economy has become a key sector for Catalonia. At the Mobile World Congress 2026, which is taking place this week in Barcelona, data has been revealed that reflects the impact of this industry on the Catalan economy.
This year marks the 20th edition of the event in the city. The study “The legacy of 20 years of WC: two decades of digital transformation” presented by Mobile World Capital Barcelona highlights how the digital revolution has transformed society and the economy since the congress arrived in Barcelona.
According to the study, over the last two decades (since 2006), the digital economy has grown by 86.4% in Catalonia, representing 25.5% of GDP according to the latest available data recorded in 2024, reaching a value of €68.8 billion in absolute terms.
The indicator, developed by MWCapital and COTEC, recovers the indicators that show the growing impact of technology on the local economy, including digital capital and digital labor productivity.
“We have experienced a technological revolution that has transformed all spheres of our lives,” said MWCapital director Francesc Fajula. “That is why today it makes no sense to talk only about a technology sector, but rather about a fully digitized economy and society, in which technology is a cross-cutting and strategic element.”
At the beginning of the century, only 44% of Spanish companies had an Internet connection. In Catalonia, the then-fledgling ICT sector accounted for 5.43% of GDP in 2007, a completely different picture from today, with the digital economy contributing 25% of Catalan GDP, leading the national statistics on the adoption of new technologies and the creation of startups, alongside Madrid and the Basque Country.
The Secretary for Digital Policies of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Maria Galindo, said: “It has been 20 years of collaboration between the administrations of Barcelona, Catalonia, the Spanish State, and the GSMA, involving an important part of the sector, which has allowed us to face, together, the great challenges posed by digitalization. And, above all, from a commitment to ethical and responsible digitization, an important reflection that AI presents us with today.”
Barcelona as a global technology hub
“Today, Barcelona is not only a leading economic, cultural, and social center: it is also a benchmark technology city,” said Jordi Valls, Deputy Mayor for Economy, Housing, Finance, and Tourism of the Barcelona City Council. “Now it is up to us to decide, collectively, what transformation we want to promote in the coming years.”
For him, “the MWC is the result of a firm commitment to the public-private partnership model, which has made it possible to consolidate this project over twenty years.”
The study was presented in a context in which Catalan startups raised €1.131 billion in 2025, 8% more than the previous year. In addition, the digital ecosystem comprises 2,403 emerging companies with a turnover of €2.947 billion.
In terms of talent, Barcelona currently has almost 130,000 digital professionals, representing 6% of the city’s workforce and growth of almost 100% in eight years. Digital talent is now the main generator of job opportunities in Barcelona.
In the field of technology transfer, programmes such as The Collider have encouraged the development of a constantly growing ecosystem of deep tech spin-offs, which now includes almost 1,007 companies that have emerged from universities and research centres. These companies currently have an estimated turnover of €1.4 billion and develop differential technologies in strategic sectors such as biotechnology, energy and health.
Finally, the promotion of the scientific-technological ecosystem is translating into the growing attraction of international technology centres to our region. In its latest ‘Tech Hubs Overview’ report, MWCapital identifies 203 international technology hubs in Catalonia, with parent companies mainly from the United States, China, Germany and the United Kingdom, employing more than 46,000 people. An example of Barcelona and Catalonia’s positioning as an international technology capital over the last 20 years and its attractiveness to companies from all over the world is that, in 2006, the region was home to only 14 tech hubs.