Foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$) - Country Ranking

Definition: Foreign direct investment refers to direct investment equity flows in an economy. It is the sum of equity capital, reinvestment of earnings, and other capital. Direct investment is a category of cross-border investment associated with a resident in one economy having control or a significant degree of influence on the management of an enterprise that is resident in another economy. Ownership of 10 percent or more of the ordinary shares of voting stock is the criterion for determining the existence of a direct investment relationship. This series shows net outflows of investment from the reporting economy to the rest of the world. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

Source: International Monetary Fund, Balance of Payments database, supplemented by data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and official national sources.

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 United States 311,692,000,000.00 2020
2 Hungary 166,125,000,000.00 2020
3 Japan 152,314,000,000.00 2020
4 Luxembourg 127,087,000,000.00 2020
5 Germany 111,484,000,000.00 2020
6 China 109,922,000,000.00 2020
7 Hong Kong SAR, China 83,423,020,000.00 2020
8 Spain 56,079,780,000.00 2020
9 France 53,556,740,000.00 2020
10 Canada 50,167,520,000.00 2020
11 Korea 32,479,700,000.00 2020
12 Singapore 32,375,480,000.00 2020
13 Sweden 29,242,690,000.00 2020
14 Thailand 19,002,070,000.00 2020
15 United Arab Emirates 18,937,330,000.00 2020
16 Australia 12,473,480,000.00 2020
17 Chile 11,724,840,000.00 2020
18 India 11,122,670,000.00 2020
19 Cayman Islands 10,834,720,000.00 2020
20 Denmark 9,086,343,000.00 2020
21 Israel 6,374,400,000.00 2020
22 Mexico 6,058,044,000.00 2020
23 Russia 5,847,000,000.00 2020
24 Indonesia 5,029,304,000.00 2020
25 Finland 4,930,947,000.00 2020
26 Saudi Arabia 4,910,923,000.00 2020
27 Poland 4,883,000,000.00 2020
28 Lithuania 3,849,599,000.00 2020
29 Malaysia 3,639,541,000.00 2020
30 Philippines 3,525,189,000.00 2020
31 Czech Republic 3,277,827,000.00 2020
32 Turkey 3,239,000,000.00 2020
33 Kuwait 3,154,083,000.00 2020
34 Qatar 2,729,945,000.00 2020
35 Peru 2,101,806,000.00 2020
36 Slovak Republic 1,860,406,000.00 2020
37 Macao SAR, China 1,728,441,000.00 2020
38 Colombia 1,656,255,000.00 2020
39 Kazakhstan 1,350,529,000.00 2020
40 Argentina 1,293,825,000.00 2020
41 Togo 931,339,200.00 2020
42 Azerbaijan 825,278,000.00 2020
43 Slovenia 814,163,900.00 2020
44 New Zealand 697,301,700.00 2020
45 Timor-Leste 693,867,500.00 2020
46 Greece 648,302,200.00 2020
47 Ghana 542,414,000.00 2020
48 Oman 534,460,400.00 2020
49 Morocco 493,405,100.00 2020
50 Costa Rica 458,738,000.00 2020
51 Croatia 427,431,100.00 2020
52 Vietnam 380,000,000.00 2020
53 Ukraine 362,000,000.00 2020
54 Egypt 326,500,000.00 2020
55 Estonia 324,208,700.00 2020
56 Bulgaria 294,780,000.00 2020
57 Libya 204,682,500.00 2020
58 Romania 198,628,800.00 2020
59 Latvia 191,936,900.00 2020
60 Kyrgyz Republic 180,886,600.00 2020
61 Senegal 171,462,300.00 2020
62 Côte d'Ivoire 158,057,400.00 2020
63 The Bahamas 156,738,000.00 2020
64 Mozambique 153,380,100.00 2020
65 Dem. Rep. Congo 148,836,300.00 2020
66 Iraq 148,500,000.00 2020
67 Cambodia 127,012,900.00 2020
68 Guatemala 126,788,700.00 2020
69 Madagascar 119,093,400.00 2020
70 Serbia 116,496,600.00 2020
71 Papua New Guinea 114,157,500.00 2020
72 Trinidad and Tobago 103,771,800.00 2020
73 El Salvador 97,317,120.00 2020
74 Angola 90,514,470.00 2020
75 New Caledonia 85,534,150.00 2020
76 Cameroon 84,415,060.00 2020
77 Liberia 80,073,700.00 2020
78 Bosnia and Herzegovina 79,387,440.00 2020
79 Iran 78,390,060.00 2020
80 Belarus 77,000,000.00 2020
81 Tajikistan 70,334,960.00 2020
82 Paraguay 54,328,300.00 2020
83 Lebanon 52,896,640.00 2020
84 Namibia 51,394,120.00 2020
85 Albania 50,098,200.00 2020
86 Tunisia 43,379,970.00 2020
87 Nicaragua 39,500,000.00 2020
88 Afghanistan 37,228,480.00 2020
89 Zambia 35,434,120.00 2020
90 Pakistan 34,000,000.00 2020
91 Congo 27,173,340.00 2020
92 Jordan 26,338,030.00 2020
93 Mauritius 26,070,750.00 2020
94 Mongolia 25,967,220.00 2020
95 Mali 25,735,390.00 2020
96 Benin 24,096,550.00 2020
97 Burkina Faso 22,107,650.00 2020
98 Brunei 17,456,680.00 2006
99 Algeria 15,467,720.00 2020
100 Niger 14,992,030.00 2020
101 Sri Lanka 14,542,780.00 2020
102 Guyana 13,560,330.00 2020
103 Fiji 13,464,180.00 2020
104 Cabo Verde 11,431,910.00 2020
105 Uzbekistan 11,309,800.00 2020
106 Bangladesh 10,125,990.00 2020
107 Barbados 7,500,000.00 2020
108 Jamaica 6,692,663.00 2020
109 Mauritania 6,026,556.00 2020
110 Moldova 5,700,000.00 2020
111 Samoa 4,807,954.00 2020
112 Belize 4,428,192.00 2020
113 St. Kitts and Nevis 3,895,585.00 2020
114 Yemen 3,331,222.00 2019
115 Solomon Islands 3,326,629.00 2020
116 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 2,502,339.00 2020
117 Guinea 2,360,000.00 2020
118 Vanuatu 1,836,905.00 2020
119 Burundi 1,721,128.00 2020
120 Palau 1,200,000.00 2018
121 São Tomé and Principe 853,447.20 2020
122 Suriname 691,056.30 2020
123 Tonga 610,658.30 2020
124 Guinea-Bissau 430,742.30 2020
125 Uganda 324,609.30 2020
126 Kiribati 111,862.90 2020
127 Central African Republic 1,292.30 2002
128 Lao PDR 0.00 2020
128 Lesotho 0.00 2014
128 Syrian Arab Republic 0.00 2010
128 Rwanda 0.00 2020
128 Myanmar 0.00 2019
128 Nepal 0.00 2020
128 Bhutan 0.00 2020
128 Equatorial Guinea 0.00 1996
128 Haiti 0.00 2012
128 Ethiopia 0.00 2009
128 Ecuador 0.00 2020
128 Comoros 0.00 2012
128 Tuvalu 0.00 2019
128 Tanzania 0.00 2009
128 Sudan 0.00 2020
143 Sierra Leone -33,271.52 2010
144 Dominica -386,517.60 2020
145 Grenada -485,853.30 2020
146 Chad -2,147,153.00 1999
147 The Gambia -3,483,809.00 2020
148 Zimbabwe -3,500,000.00 2020
149 Montenegro -4,781,821.00 2020
150 Kenya -7,114,138.00 2020
151 Seychelles -7,242,444.00 2020
152 Antigua and Barbuda -8,164,571.00 2020
153 Eswatini -14,072,840.00 2020
154 Georgia -15,133,310.00 2020
155 Botswana -16,930,690.00 2020
156 Malawi -18,675,800.00 2020
157 Armenia -27,278,870.00 2020
158 Eritrea -27,875,540.00 2000
159 Gabon -33,779,110.00 2019
160 St. Lucia -39,129,120.00 2020
161 Italy -76,876,700.00 2020
162 Venezuela -78,666,660.00 2020
163 Dominican Republic -99,000,000.00 2020
164 Bolivia -101,838,300.00 2020
165 Honduras -135,843,700.00 2020
166 North Macedonia -165,220,700.00 2020
167 Bahrain -205,053,200.00 2020
168 Nigeria -337,869,300.00 2020
169 Iceland -352,643,300.00 2020
170 Portugal -355,754,800.00 2020
171 Uruguay -582,334,800.00 2020
172 South Africa -1,959,793,000.00 2020
173 Panama -2,800,044,000.00 2020
174 Brazil -3,467,254,000.00 2020
175 Cyprus -4,797,456,000.00 2020
176 Malta -6,737,365,000.00 2020
177 Austria -8,250,138,000.00 2020
178 Norway -11,047,090,000.00 2020
179 Belgium -19,436,260,000.00 2020
180 United Kingdom -53,267,010,000.00 2020
181 Ireland -92,057,030,000.00 2020
182 Switzerland -133,259,000,000.00 2020
183 Netherlands -200,229,000,000.00 2020

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Development Relevance: Private financial flows - equity and debt - account for the bulk of development finance. Equity flows comprise foreign direct investment (FDI) and portfolio equity. Debt flows are financing raised through bond issuance, bank lending, and supplier credits.

Limitations and Exceptions: FDI data do not give a complete picture of international investment in an economy. Balance of payments data on FDI do not include capital raised locally, an important source of investment financing in some developing countries. In addition, FDI data omit nonequity cross-border transactions such as intra-unit flows of goods and services. The volume of global private financial flows reported by the World Bank generally differs from that reported by other sources because of differences in sources, classification of economies, and method used to adjust and disaggregate reported information. In addition, particularly for debt financing, differences may also reflect how some installments of the transactions and certain offshore issuances are treated. Data on equity flows are shown for all countries for which data are available.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Data on equity flows are based on balance of payments data reported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Foreign direct investment (FDI) data are supplemented by the World Bank staff estimates using data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and official national sources. The internationally accepted definition of FDI (from the sixth edition of the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual [2009]), includes the following components: equity investment, including investment associated with equity that gives rise to control or influence; investment in indirectly influenced or controlled enterprises; investment in fellow enterprises; debt (except selected debt); and reverse investment. The Framework for Direct Investment Relationships provides criteria for determining whether cross-border ownership results in a direct investment relationship, based on control and influence. Distinguished from other kinds of international investment, FDI is made to establish a lasting interest in or effective management control over an enterprise in another country. A lasting interest in an investment enterprise typically involves establishing warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and other permanent or long-term organizations abroad. Direct investments may take the form of greenfield investment, where the investor starts a new venture in a foreign country by constructing new operational facilities; joint venture, where the investor enters into a partnership agreement with a company abroad to establish a new enterprise; or merger and acquisition, where the investor acquires an existing enterprise abroad. The IMF suggests that investments should account for at least 10 percent of voting stock to be counted as FDI. In practice many countries set a higher threshold. Many countries fail to report reinvested earnings, and the definition of long-term loans differs among countries. BoP refers to Balance of Payments.

Aggregation method: Sum

Periodicity: Annual

General Comments: Note: Data starting from 2005 are based on the sixth edition of the IMF's Balance of Payments Manual (BPM6).