Companies registered in the Canary Islands Special Zone (ZEC) reached €3.262 billion in revenue in 2023, for the first time in history, a 9.23% increase compared to the previous year, as reported this Wednesday by the ZEC Governing Council in its first session of this year.
The final management report for the year 2023, with complete and real data for the fiscal year, also shows that revenue increased during that period to an average of €4,958,010 per registered entity and €7,092,446.24 per entity applying the regime, as indicated in a statement by the Consortium of the Canary Islands Special Zone.
The positive result of the entities increased by 19.48% to €296,567,928.37, or 25.96% and a result of €227,767,594.89 if entities with losses are taken into account.
Regarding registered entities, these increased from 757 in 2022 to 825 in 2023, with a net increase of 8.98%, and 118 new registered entities. Similarly, active entities increased from 619 to 658, with an increase of 6.30%.
In terms of employment, it went from 10,236 registered contracts in 2022 to 10,687 in 2023, with an increase of 451 jobs, with an average employment of 12.95 jobs per entity, almost double the average of Canary Island companies, which have around seven employees.
On the qualitative side, and as an example of emerging sectors, ZEC companies dedicated to active IT activities went from 74 to 81; those in film activities, from 31 to 35; and those related to renewable energies, from 15 to 20.
According to the Consortium of the Canary Islands Special Zone in the note, "these data are a consequence of the increase in the organization's investment attraction activity, which carried out more than 81 promotional activities in 2023, with 71 of them in person."
In that sense, it highlighted the investment attraction actions carried out in the United States, "where the presence has significantly increased", the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Japan, Germany, and Singapore.
The promotional activity of the organization that manages the REF tax incentive for the diversification of the Canary Islands economy has focused on technology, audiovisual, marine-maritime, R&D&I, Industry, and aerospace.
"The ZEC continues to demonstrate its effectiveness in attracting investment, creating wealth and quality employment, and is consolidating itself as one of the most important tools of the Economic and Fiscal Regime of the Canary Islands (REF)," the Consortium stated.
The president of the Consortium, Pablo Hernández, indicated that "the tax incentive is an important element, but the most relevant thing in attracting investment is the combination of talent, infrastructure, and its synergies with fiscal mechanisms," adding that "investors are looking for support in all those aspects that generate trust."
Advance of the 2024 results
The first Governing Council of the year also reported on the provisional results of the 2024 fiscal year, with 125 new companies registered in the special low taxation regime, the highest number in the organization's history.
This has led to a total census of the Official Registry of ZEC Entities of up to 895 companies, which represents an 8.48% increase compared to the previous year.
Regarding employment, 2024 has seen the number of net jobs created by the low taxation zone exceed 11,045 for the first time, creating 358 jobs.
