UNCTAD · Foreign Direct Investment Inflows
Foreign direct investment inflows by country
How much foreign direct investment does a country receive, relative to the size of its economy?
Of the 202 countries compared in 2025, British Virgin Islands had the highest reading, 2,220.99450%, and Luxembourg had the lowest reading, -32.96714%. In the middle country the figure was 1.96798%. Among the 148 countries measured in every edition since 1990, the middle one moved from 0.86379% to 1.98014%.
Share
Foreign direct investment inflows · 2025
Context statistic
Highest of 202British Virgin Islands
2,220.99450%012025 · values only
The highest and the lowest
The three countries with the highest values of 202 compared, the three with the lowest, and the highest on each continent. This statistic has no better end, so no country is shown as leading.
- 1
- 2
- 3
Lowest in 2025
Luxembourg-32.96714%
Trinidad and Tobago-4.43404%
Belgium-3.73601%
This statistic has no better end: the two ends describe size, not success.
Highest on each continent
- Africa
Mozambique24.66204% - AmericasBritish Virgin Islands2,220.99450%
- Asia
Hong Kong27.35536% - EuropeMalta51.85935%
- Oceania
Palau17.09405% - Every region
02Every measured country
Foreign direct investment inflows on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value. This statistic has no better end, so the shades describe size, not success.
- -32.96714–0.54365%
- 0.57342–1.52540%
- 1.53937–2.50975%
- 2.52914–4.83478%
- 4.91457–2,220.99450%
- No reading in 2025 (4 measured in an earlier edition)
- Americas
2.45624%
the middle country, of 44 measured · 48 members
British Virgin Islands2,220.99450%Trinidad and Tobago-4.43404%Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Africa
1.99663%
the middle country, of 53 measured · 55 members
Mozambique24.66204%
Botswana-3.29339%Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Asia
1.81921%
the middle country, of 49 measured · 52 members
Hong Kong27.35536%
Iraq-2.98429%Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Europe
1.66690%
the middle country, of 40 measured · 49 members
Malta51.85935%Luxembourg-32.96714%Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Oceania
1.01593%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 21 members
Palau17.09405%
Papua New Guinea-3.61563%Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Melanesia
3.95142%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
New Caledonia4.83478%Papua New Guinea-3.61563%Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Caribbean
3.92010%
the middle country, of 21 measured · 24 members
British Virgin Islands2,220.99450%Trinidad and Tobago-4.43404%Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Eastern Africa
3.51276%
the middle country, of 18 measured · 19 members
Mozambique24.66204%
Comoros0.52772%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- South-eastern Asia
3.32824%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members
Singapore26.15304%
Brunei1.03928%Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Southern Europe
2.92173%
the middle country, of 13 measured · 17 members
Malta51.85935%
Italy0.34926%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- South America
2.45624%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members
Suriname42.80775%
Venezuela-0.24386%Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Western Asia
2.40617%
the middle country, of 17 measured · 19 members
Oman12.48862%Iraq-2.98429%Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Western Africa
2.04194%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Guinea19.21378%
Senegal0.08924%Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Northern Africa
1.94448%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 6 members
Egypt4.19664%
Algeria0.53988%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Central America
1.87983%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Nicaragua6.85044%
Panama1.00886%Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Eastern Europe
1.66690%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members
Bulgaria3.16218%
Slovakia0.47313%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Middle Africa
1.46974%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Republic of the Congo3.42394%
Chad0.02074%Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Eastern Asia
1.02097%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Hong Kong27.35536%
North Korea0.05354%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Central Asia
0.88414%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Uzbekistan3.15697%
Kazakhstan-0.28440%Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Northern Europe
0.59201%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Sweden4.52891%
Norway-0.59105%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Southern Asia
0.42895%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
Maldives11.23168%
Nepal0.10035%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Polynesia
0.16611%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 7 members
Cook Islands0.80603%
Tonga-2.98562%Highest and lowest reading in Polynesia.
- Southern Africa
-0.22533%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Namibia9.68953%Botswana-3.29339%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
- Western Europe
-1.30654%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Germany1.48315%Luxembourg-32.96714%Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
Australia1.88220%
New Zealand0.97429%Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Micronesia
4 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau.
Palau17.09405%
Nauru-0.00975%Highest and lowest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern America
3 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Bermuda, Canada, United States.
Canada2.88613%
United States0.90144%Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
03The whole field at once
The spread
202 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 1.96798%; a quarter are above 4.19008%, and a quarter below 0.86997%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 206 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. No rank or position is shown: too many countries share the same value for an order to mean anything. Neither end is better. Both ends are regularly held by financial conduits — the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Ireland — where money passes through holding companies on its way elsewhere, so a reading can run to many times GDP one year and turn sharply negative the next. A negative figure means foreign owners withdrew more than they put in; it is not an error.
Showing 25 of 206 countries
Values for 2025. The change column compares 2025 with 2024 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
051990–2025 · 36 editions
Over time
Each point is one year from 1990. FDI is lumpy: one large acquisition or a multinational restructuring can move a small economy by several points in a single year, so read the slope over a decade rather than the jumps between years.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 148 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 202 | 1.96798% | 0.86997% – 4.19008% | 1.98014% |
| 2024 | 202 | 2.08486% | 0.83402% – 4.55406% | 2.04737% |
| 2023 | 203 | 2.19112% | 1.00691% – 4.66764% | 2.19510% |
| 2022 | 203 | 2.48349% | 1.21912% – 4.84385% | 2.72163% |
| 2021 | 204 | 2.37525% | 0.89849% – 4.37959% | 2.53079% |
| 2020 | 203 | 1.50296% | 0.42014% – 3.46519% | 1.50136% |
| 2019 | 203 | 2.37203% | 0.82061% – 4.33993% | 2.25063% |
| 2018 | 202 | 2.36220% | 1.06431% – 4.17951% | 2.26338% |
| 2017 | 203 | 2.57856% | 1.09287% – 4.70655% | 2.57292% |
| 2016 | 202 | 2.75181% | 0.92704% – 5.23380% | 2.60743% |
| 2015 | 202 | 2.38201% | 0.90445% – 5.46872% | 2.66412% |
| 2014 | 201 | 2.73872% | 1.12177% – 5.91205% | 2.72696% |
| 2013 | 201 | 2.95204% | 1.05009% – 5.70644% | 3.19785% |
| 2012 | 201 | 2.87687% | 1.39587% – 6.41206% | 2.92491% |
| 2011 | 199 | 3.37527% | 1.55119% – 6.78814% | 3.30365% |
| 2010 | 197 | 2.85854% | 1.44924% – 6.65628% | 2.90996% |
| 2009 | 197 | 3.12691% | 1.13825% – 6.46867% | 3.03745% |
| 2008 | 198 | 3.94739% | 1.63798% – 7.57420% | 3.76006% |
| 2007 | 195 | 4.35176% | 2.01072% – 8.34823% | 4.18117% |
| 2006 | 195 | 3.67741% | 1.70789% – 7.43686% | 3.65040% |
| 2005 | 195 | 2.73884% | 1.00661% – 5.81786% | 2.81885% |
| 2004 | 194 | 2.53544% | 0.90065% – 5.89733% | 2.44689% |
| 2003 | 193 | 2.24420% | 0.76711% – 4.99947% | 2.27750% |
| 2002 | 191 | 2.34546% | 0.66538% – 4.53756% | 2.35738% |
| 2001 | 191 | 2.20498% | 0.74550% – 4.47672% | 2.33054% |
| 2000 | 190 | 2.66165% | 1.02181% – 5.69606% | 2.94992% |
| 1999 | 187 | 2.52508% | 0.63163% – 5.53582% | 2.69475% |
| 1998 | 186 | 2.21310% | 0.78381% – 5.43439% | 2.13316% |
| 1997 | 186 | 2.02903% | 0.59071% – 4.27365% | 2.08225% |
| 1996 | 183 | 1.29234% | 0.53361% – 3.21215% | 1.37117% |
| 1995 | 182 | 1.24978% | 0.42525% – 3.37816% | 1.46937% |
| 1994 | 181 | 1.03934% | 0.29462% – 2.47109% | 1.18137% |
| 1993 | 182 | 0.88530% | 0.16255% – 2.14984% | 1.09078% |
| 1992 | 177 | 0.60171% | 0.10610% – 1.77499% | 0.82081% |
| 1991 | 161 | 0.67918% | 0.18439% – 2.02377% | 0.79970% |
| 1990 | 160 | 0.80512% | 0.16424% – 2.09631% | 0.86379% |
062024 → 2025
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Rose most
before → after- British Virgin Islands1,795.68556% → 2,220.99450%+425.30894
- Malta15.96739% → 51.85935%+35.89196
- Suriname15.22391% → 42.80775%+27.58384
- Guinea3.84435% → 19.21378%+15.36943
Cyprus1.31820% → 12.16662%+10.84842
Fell most
before → after- Luxembourg26.77061% → -32.96714%−59.73775
- Cayman Islands500.72841% → 443.21175%−57.51666
- Egypt15.17661% → 4.19664%−10.97997
- Senegal9.03912% → 0.08924%−8.94988
Anguilla12.94478% → 4.63534%−8.30944
202 countries were measured in both 2024 and 2025.
07Across every edition
Foreign direct investment inflows in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
9,249.77859%
FDI inflows (% of GDP)
Lowest reading on record
-718.91707%
FDI inflows (% of GDP)
Biggest rise between editions
+3,777.10899
5,472.66960% → 9,249.77859%
Biggest fall between editions
−5,891.29887
9,249.77859% → 3,358.47972%
Biggest change since first measured
+2,205.68848
15.30602% → 2,220.99450%
Highest most often
31 of 36
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About foreign direct investment inflows
Foreign direct investment inflows are what foreign companies and investors put into lasting stakes in a country's businesses in a year — new plants, acquisitions, reinvested profits and loans between parts of the same company — shown as a share of GDP so that economies of every size can be compared. It is a flow net of what foreign owners took out, so it can be negative.
What the number is: FDI inflows (% of GDP).
What it does not measure
It counts money arriving for lasting stakes in companies, not the jobs or output that follow, and in financial centres much of it only passes through on its way somewhere else.
09Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Economy & Innovation and Money & Public Finance, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Economy & InnovationMoney & Public FinanceWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where foreign direct investment inflows is higher, these tend to be higher too.
No statistic lines up this closely.
Moves against
Where foreign direct investment inflows is higher, these tend to be lower.
No statistic lines up this closely.
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 383 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The countries at either end
11Questions
Foreign direct investment inflows: questions and answers
Which country has the highest foreign direct investment inflows?
British Virgin Islands, at 2,220.99450%, among the 202 countries compared in 2025.
Which country has the lowest foreign direct investment inflows?
Luxembourg, at -32.96714%, among the 202 countries compared in 2025.
How many countries does the Foreign Direct Investment Inflows cover?
202 in 2025, and 206 at least once across all editions. The number measured varies from 160 to 204 between editions.
What is the world average foreign direct investment inflows?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 202 compared in 2025, the figure was 1.96798%.
Is this UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)’s own ranking?
No ranking is shown. UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything, so none is derived.
How often is the Foreign Direct Investment Inflows published?
This site holds 36 editions, describing 1990 to 2025.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), under CC BY 3.0 IGO. Read from UNCTAD's own US.FdiFlowsStock bulk file on UNCTADstat, the data behind the World Investment Report. UNCTAD's regional and group totals are left out, as are states that no longer exist. The US$ amount is kept beside the share, and UNCTAD's footnote travels with any reading compiled on a different accounting basis. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Foreign Direct Investment Inflows — UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Read from UNCTAD's own US.FdiFlowsStock bulk file on UNCTADstat, the data behind the World Investment Report. UNCTAD's regional and group totals are left out, as are states that no longer exist. The US$ amount is kept beside the share, and UNCTAD's footnote travels with any reading compiled on a different accounting basis.
Newest edition
Report year 2025Data year 2025
Cite the source as: UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Foreign direct investment: inward and outward flows and stock, annual. Geneva: UNCTAD Data Hub.
Licence: CC BY 3.0 IGO, checked 2026-09-26.
How this page reads the numbers
- No rank or position is shown: UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything.
- This statistic has no better end, so the page describes higher and lower values and never calls a country a leader.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Foreign direct investment inflows by country: Foreign Direct Investment Inflows, data from UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/fdi-inflows