France rises to the top as Argentina’s foreign ownership doubles
France leads, Spain surges, China rises on lithium
Argentina is seeing a surge in foreign owned companies. The latest numbers from CompanyData.com show strong growth over the last decade: from 2,389 in 2015 to 5,143 in 2025, an increase of 115.3%. France now leads with 844 companies, overtaking United States of America (509 in 2015). This sharp rise underlines the shifting landscape of Argentina’s foreign ownership, with European countries playing an increasingly dominant role.
France becomes Argentina’s top foreign owner
The number of French-owned companies in Argentina grew from 163 in 2015 to 844 in2025, a rise of 417%. Energy has been a key driver: Total Energies launched gas production at the offshore Fenix field in 2024. Despite divesting a minority of shale assets in 2025, the company said it remains committed to Argentina’s core gas projects.Retail is another pillar: Carrefour, owned by France, operates 626 stores in Argentina,making it one of the country’s largest supermarket chains and a clear example of France‘s corporate footprint.
Spain also overtakes the United States
Spanish-owned companies increased from 219 in 2015 to 541 in 2025, a rise of 147%. Spain also overtook the United States to become one of Argentina’s top foreign owners.Spain’s presence is anchored by its banking giants, with Santander and BBVA among the largest private banks in the country, underscoring Spain’s enduring financial influence.
China enters the Top 10 with rapid growth
The number of companies from China increased from 17 in 2015 to 152 in 2025, a rise of 794.1%. Recent lithium investments underpin this momentum: China’s Ganfeng Lithium began production at the Mariana project in Salta in 2025, with plans to expand further.
Industries leading the charge
Among foreign-owned companies in Argentina, retail leads with 890 grocery stores.Banks are next with 727 entities, showing the weight of foreign finance.Telecommunications also feature strongly with 274 companies.
About CompanyData.com
CompanyData.com (formerly BoldData) is a global company data provider headquartered in the Netherlands, with offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, and Dubai. Since2013, we’ve supported over 5,000 clients in 81 countries with verified, structured company data. We specialize in custom-built datasets with legal entity data, company hierarchies, contact data and B2B email data. Our mission is to make global company data simple, transparent and truly useful.
Note to the editor:
Editors are welcome to reference this data in their reporting. Please credit CompanyData.com with a link to the source page. Additional figures or raw data are available on request. This report is derived from CompanyData.com’s global company database. The foundation of the database is official national trade registers, complemented by trusted sources such as the GLEIF, LEI Repository, chambers of commerce, and local commercial registries. For Germany, the primary source is official central platform for company disclosures (Unternehmensregister) and handelsregister. From these verified records, CompanyData.com builds global company hierarchies and relationships,making it possible to analyze the role of foreign-owned companies across countries.
