Over the past 13 years, driven by our customers, we have continuously enhanced our services while expanding our presence in Spain through sustained investments. Each year, we share financial information about our business activities and how our investments and tax contributions support socio-economic growth nationwide.
Our investments in Spain
Since 2010, we have invested more than €17.5 billion into our Spanish operations. This figure includes capital expenditures (such as infrastructure including operations sites, corporate offices, and cloud data centres) and operational expenditures (such as compensation to our employees in Spain). In 2023 alone, we invested over €3.4 billion to provide quality service by delivering products to customers quickly, sustainably, and at competitive prices. The independent consultancy, Keystone Strategy, estimates that our investments since 2010 have contributed over €13 billion to Spain's GDP.
We now have around 40 facilities of different sizes throughout Spain, and our network continues to expand. In 2023, we opened new fulfilment centres in Zaragoza and Girona and announced upcoming sites in Siero (Asturias), Granada, and A Coruña before the end of 2024. Our impact reaches large and small towns, including regions with fewer opportunities, driving economic and social development in these areas as well.
With over 25,000 employees at the end of 2023, we reached our 2025 job creation commitment two years ahead of schedule. This figure makes us the company with the fastest pace of job creation in the last five years in Spain, with more than 20,000 people hired since 2018. Additionally, in May this year, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced plans to invest €15.7 billion in Spain over the next ten years through the expansion of its AWS Europe (Spain) Region, which will support more than 17,500 full-time jobs in local businesses annually, including direct, indirect, and induced jobs.
Support for Spanish SMEs and local creators
At Amazon, we maintain a strong commitment to the country's business network, comprised mostly of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Currently, over 15,000 Spanish SMEs sell through Amazon, and generated over €950 million in exports in 2022 – a 10% year-over-year growth. To support SME digitisation, we invest annually in tools and training to help Spanish businesses sell globally and succeed, through both Amazon and elsewhere. We have committed to training 50,000 Spanish SMEs in digital skills by 2025.
Our free Despega training programme has already trained over 45,000 Spanish SMEs, collaborating with over 15 institutions, regional governments, and public/private organisations. Since last year, we’ve also organised workshops with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce.
We have also maintained our commitment to support Spain’s cultural industries, both in terms of talent and production through Prime Video, Amazon Music, Audible, Kindle, and Twitch. In 2023 we launched Operación Triunfo, our first ever weekly live entertainment show on Prime Video, which achieved an average of more than 3.5 million estimated unique viewers tuning into the weekly live galas, and new Originals that have travelled to global audiences, such as Culpa Mía (the biggest non-English language movie launch in Prime Video history), Awareness, Los Farad, and Reina Roja, inspired on the bestselling novel by Juan Gómez-Jurado. We work closely with some of the best storytellers, writers, producers, musicians, and artists, helping them prosper in the cultural sector and getting their creations to audiences all over the world.
Total tax contribution in Spain
We’re a growing business with a high volume of sales; however, as is the case for retail businesses, operating profits remain relatively low due to price pressure in a very competitive market, intense capital investment, and increasing operating costs.
By continually investing in our operations and employees, we help fund public services and infrastructure nationwide. Therefore, we examine not only corporate income tax but also the taxes we administer and collect on behalf of the Tax Agency through our Spanish activities. For the fourth consecutive year, we’re publishing our investments and tax contributions in Spain:
- In 2023, our total gross revenue from Spanish activities exceeded €7.1 billion.
- Our investments amounted to over €3.4 billion in 2023, totaling over €17.5 billion since our 2010 arrival in Spain.
- Our total tax contribution, including taxes borne and collected, was €1.1 billion:
- Our total taxes borne was more than €370 million including mostly payroll and national insurance taxes paid by Amazon, corporate income tax, land acquisition/construction taxes, digital services tax, and import duties.
- We collected more than €790 million additionally in taxes from our customers, employees, and third parties through our Spanish business activities. These include VAT and employee taxes withheld by Amazon, as well as VAT collected and remitted on third-party sales.
At Amazon, we take pride in our growing contribution to the Spanish economy over the years. Our commitment to Spain remains strong, and we will continue to invest, innovate, create jobs, and support the communities we serve across the country.
