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In 2021, for the 11 EU countries, which report inward foreign direct investment (FDI) positions by ultimate investing economy, the total value amounted to €3 052 billion.

The inward FDI by ultimate investing economy was concentrated among a relatively small number of countries. The top ultimate investing economy in 2021 was the United States, which invested €405 billion (13.3% of the total value by ultimate investing economy), keeping the same position as in 2020. This country was followed by Germany with €330 billion (10.8%), France with €315 billion (10.3%), the United Kingdom with €274 billion (9.0%) and Switzerland with €178 billion (5.8%).

 

Bar chart: Total inward foreign direct investments positions, 2021

Source dataset: bop_fdi6_pos

 

Luxembourg was the biggest immediate investing economy

The total inward FDI positions for the immediate investing economy for the same 11 EU countries amounted to €3 051 billion.

Luxembourg accounted for the largest part of the total investments with €504 billion (16.5% of the total by immediate investing economy), followed by the Netherlands (€446 billion; 14.6%), Germany (€275 billion; 9.0%), the United Kingdom (€264 billion; 8.7%) and France (€196 billion; 6.4%).

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Methodological notes:

  • FDI is the category of international investment in which an enterprise resident in one country (the direct investor) acquires an interest of at least 10% in an enterprise resident in another country (the direct investment enterprise), with FDI stocks (or positions) measuring the total value of direct investment at a given point in time. There are two possible ways to identify the home country of the direct investor: either by immediate or by ultimate investing economy. 
  • Eurostat has launched a voluntary data collection of inward FDI positions by ultimate investing economy. The 13 EU Member States reporting are Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal and Romania. However data of Germany and Hungary for reference year 2021 is not yet available.
  • In FDI statistics by ultimate investing economy the FDI position in the enterprise is allocated to the ultimate investor that has control over the investment decision to have an FDI position in the enterprise. In these statistics the reporting country can also be the ultimate investor, which is not possible in FDI statistics by immediate investing economy.
  • This reallocation allows to identify the real country of the investor, which ultimately controls the investments, bears the risks, reaps the rewards and identifies the amount of round-tripping. Round-tripping is the process where funds that have been channelled abroad by resident investors are returned to the domestic economy in the form of direct investment. In the case of round-tripping investments the country‘s economy is not supplemented with genuine FDI.


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