Six out of ten Spanish companies (57.2%) are optimistic about the evolution of the year 2025, since they anticipate an increase in exports and sales at national level, which could lead to growth in the employment capacity of companies. This is confirmed by the study on the business climate in Spain, prepared by Sigma Dos in collaboration with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce.
The most positive companies for next year are those dedicated to construction, tourism and hospitality; while those who hope to achieve worse results are those who orient their activity towards commerce.
As for 2024, 80% of businesses say the expectations they started with in the first months of the year are being met (47.7%) or well beyond (28.1%). But not everyone has a positive situation, since 24.2% indicated that the situation was worse than expected.
The sectors that achieved the best results were construction, tourism, hotels and restaurants.as the most favorable. And, on the other side of the scale, is the agri-food sector, which is positioned as the one that will have the worst results in 2024.
Concern about employment
The study reveals that companies express great concerns regarding issues related to rising prices and labor costs. At 39.4%, worker-related expenses are what they perceive as the biggest risk, followed by lack of demand for labor (39.1%). This variant, explains José Luis Rojo, research director of Sigma Dos, is linked “to the lack of profiles suitable for positions, which always depends on the different sectors, hotels or construction being among those which are the most important”. To which José Luis Bonet, president of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, adds personally, that this could also be due to absenteeism: “A problem which was not reflected in the study and which also influences when It’s about finding workers. is linked to absenteeism.
In last place on the podium is the tax burden, with 35.9%, as one of the greatest difficulties. These are also the biggest concerns of companies for the future, which could negatively influence the investment capacity of companies, currently on the rise, with 27.5% of companies in their favor.
Although companies are optimistic about the results they can achieve in 2025, 43.8% perceive the socio-political climate as a risk factor that could affect their expectationsas well as the increase in prices, which of 26.6% could have a negative impact on the evolution of the economy as well as on inflation, perceived by the companies themselves as a risk factor.
Regarding sales, In 2025, companies are more positive about exports, with 45.8%, compared to 27.6% who thought so in 2024. The sector that hopes to obtain a greater number of exports is industry, compared to construction, which is the most negative.
At the national level, Expectations rose to 38.6% in 2025, 23 points higher than the previous year (15.6%). In this sense, commerce, hospitality and tourism are the most positive, in which tourism could have a great influence, believes Bonet.
NextGen Fund
Next Generation funds are essential above all for small and medium-sized businesses, as they give them a boost when it comes to digitalizing their businesses and having a greater presence on the Internet. Despite the benefits offered by the European Union initiative, which has been underway for three years, 39.4% of Spanish companies do not know about “NextGen” fundswhich, although this figure decreased by four points last year, remains remarkable thanks to the initiatives taken by them.
Among the 60.6% of companies that know about the existence of aid, 55.2% know how to access it, which implies that 44.8% do not have the necessary knowledge to be able to request them. Of those who know how to request funds, only 25.6% have requested them and almost 60% (57.1%) rate the experience as satisfactory.
Nevertheless, companies have doubts about the reach that the Next Generation Funds can have in meeting their anticipated expectations, given 34% have little confidence in their abilities and 14.5% have no confidence at all.
