Everything went as planned or even better. The organization of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) has been extraordinarily satisfied with the edition that has just closed its doors with nearly 101,000 attendees. This figure far exceeds last year’s 88,500 and is already among the most crowded editions of the congress, which peaked in 2019 with a truly overwhelming volume of registrations, reaching 109,000 professionals.
Although the GSMA insists that it prioritizes quality over quantity, the public has responded even better than expected since the forecast was to remain at around 95,000 attendees. “Barcelona has delivered again,” celebrated the CEO of the GSMA, John Hoffman, at the close of the congress, highlighting that “the MWC embodies the energy and vitality of the mobile ecosystem.”
The evolution of Mobile giving entry to all sectors linked in one way or another to digitalization is the main reason for this growth. In fact, they have gone from 56% last year to 59% this year.
At the same time, the massive return of Chinese congressmen, from large and small companies, after four years of post-pandemic restrictions has also been noted in the final number of attendees, which the organization places in 205 different countries and territories.
What does not improve is the percentage of women, who continue to be a minority in the room. The 26% female presence is considerably better than a few years ago but is exactly identical to last year.
The CEO of the Mobile World Capital Barcelona foundation, Francesc Fajula, describes this year’s edition as a “spectacular success that has exceeded all expectations.” Fajula is convinced that “in the future it will continue to grow a lot”, although the truth is that it already occupies the eight pavilions of the Fira de Barcelona Gran Via venue in l’Hospitalet and there is not much more room for maneuver until 2027. can gain 60,000 more square meters from Hall Zero, whose works began a few months ago.
“Until then it will be time to put all the pieces together,” Hoffman challenged himself before the doors opened for this edition in which the external structures at the entrances have returned to speed up the entry of so many thousands of congressmen at once.
The next edition will be a week later than usual: from March 3 to 6, becoming the first week of March instead of the last week of February.
