The World’s Top Recipients of Foreign Direct Investment

IMF Blog, December 16, 2021

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The world’s top ten recipients of foreign direct investment by end-2020 were: the United States, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, China, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, Switzerland, Ireland, and Germany.
Total reported foreign direct investment positions increased by $2.2 trillion—or six percent—from 2019 to 2020 (among economies that reported data for both 2019 and 2020).
The increase in foreign direct investment positions from 2019 to 2020 is largely in line with the average annual increase over the past five years.
China showed the largest reported increase in both inward and outward direct investment worldwide.
Foreign direct investment positions in Africa decreased slightly from 2019, mostly driven by lower positions in Nigeria.

Europe and Asia Pacific led the surge from 2019 to 2020.
- In Europe, the United Kingdom and Germany topped the list, accounting for 18 percent and 15 percent, respectively.
- In Asia Pacific, the increase was mainly driven by China.
The United States consolidated its leadership position as the largest recipient of foreign direct investment in 2020, led mainly by higher direct investments from Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands.
- Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands together accounted for most of the increase in foreign direct investment in the United States over the last three years.

Low-tax jurisdictions—specifically the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, and Ireland—remained among the top direct investors and investee economies.
These jurisdictions continued to attract different types of investments, including those channeled through special purpose entities (subsidiaries created by parent companies in countries of convenience).
Information on cross-border flows of special purpose entities will be made available in early 2022 through the IMF’s inaugural data collection initiative for special purpose entities.

Findings are based on the latest results of the Coordinated Direct Investment Survey.
The Coordinated Direct Investment Survey is the only worldwide survey of foreign direct investment positions, conducted annually by the IMF.
The database provides detailed bilateral direct investment relations among economies to:
- present a geographic distribution of inward and outward direct investments worldwide;
- contribute to a better understanding of the extent of globalization; and
- support analysis of cross-border linkages and spillovers.

IMF Blog: The World’s Top Recipients of Foreign Direct Investment (December 16, 2021).

BOPCOM 20/26 - Special Purpose Entities: Guidelines for a Data Template
- BOPCOM 20/26 - Special Purpose Entities: Guidelines for a Data Template (Markdown version)
- BOPCOM 20/26 - Special Purpose Entities: Guidelines for a Data Template (PDF)