Barcelona among top five start-up hubs in European Union for second year in a row

For the second year in a row, Barcelona has made the list of the top five start-up ecosystems in the European Union, according to the Global Startup Ecosystem Index published by the StartupBlink consultancy, and presented recently. Barcelona is ranked 5th in the EU, only behind Paris, Berlin, Stockholm and Amsterdam.

For the report, the consultancy analysed over 1,400 cities in 110 countries, assessing start-up ecosystems based on several variables, such as number and quality of their companies, business environment, number of coworking spaces and accelerators, traction for emerging companies, and other regional economic and business indicators.

Globally, Barcelona is ranked the 33rd best ecosystem for emerging companies in the world, up 5 spots from last year’s ranking. In this regard, it is still the main start-up hub in Spain and one of the few cases of a country’s main ecosystem not being in the national capital.

It should also be noted that Barcelona is ranked second globally in the video-games sector, third globally and first in Europe in the pharmaceutical industry, second in the EU in healthcare technology, and second in the world in clean technology, smart cities, sustainability and travel technology.

According to Catalonia Trade & Investment, Catalonia is currently home to 2,285 start-ups, the highest ever registered, up 9% from last year. These companies generate a joint total of €2.33 billion in income and employ nearly 23,000 professionals.