Foreign direct investment: Top 10 countries attracting the most foreign capital

The United States continued its position as the world's largest recipient of foreign direct investment in 2025. According to the latest data from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, foreign direct investment in the United States increased by 82.45 billion dollars in the second quarter of 2025, reaching an all time high for any quarter. This performance solidified America's attractiveness to global investors. The country attracted 329 foreign investment projects during the 2024-25 financial year according to government figures. The United States benefits from several key factors including its massive consumer market, strong legal framework protecting investors, advanced infrastructure and position as a global technology hub. Manufacturing remained a top sector for investment at 67.7 billion dollars, whilst finance and insurance attracted 23.2 billion dollars. Major sources of foreign investment included the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Netherlands and Germany. The surge in investment coincided with industrial policy encouraging development of semiconductors, batteries and electric vehicles.

Singapore secured its position amongst the top global investment destinations with foreign direct investment reaching 55.12 billion Singapore dollars in the second quarter of 2025, according to Statistics Singapore. This represented approximately 40.6 billion US dollars for the quarter. The city state recorded 192 billion dollars in total foreign direct investment for 2024, marking a 5.6 per cent increase from the previous year. Singapore's finance and insurance sector dominated FDI inflows, accounting for over 60 per cent of total investments. According to official data, the top five source economies contributing 54 per cent of total inflows were the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Mainland China and Ireland. Singapore's business friendly regulations, transparent legal system, favourable tax structure, robust intellectual property protection and position as a regional headquarters for multinational corporations continue to attract investors. The government ranks first globally for efficiency and policy stability according to innovation indices.

China sees mixed foreign investment trends in 2025, with overall foreign direct investment dropping 12.7 per cent year on year to 506.58 billion yuan in the first eight months of 2025. However, high tech industries remained a bright spot in an otherwise challenging environment. According to China's Ministry of Commerce, certain advanced sectors showed strong growth including e-commerce services, which surged 127.1 per cent, chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing rising 53 per cent, aerospace and equipment manufacturing increasing 36.2 per cent, and medical equipment manufacturing growing 17.7 per cent. Regional investment patterns showed Japan's investment surging 59.1 per cent, Switzerland's rising 68.6 per cent, and the United Kingdom's increasing 37.6 per cent. China's total outbound direct investment reached 1,159.27 billion yuan in 2024, showing an 11.3 per cent increase and demonstrating the country's transition from recipient to global investor.

Brazil continued to lead Latin America in foreign direct investment, attracting 33.8 billion dollars in the first half of 2025 according to the Brazilian Central Bank. This represented a 10.7 per cent decline compared with the same period in 2024, but Brazil maintained its position as the region's largest FDI destination. Over the 12 months through June 2025, Brazil's FDI inflows reached 67 billion dollars, equal to 3.14 per cent of GDP. The country captured about 38 per cent of all foreign investment into Latin America. The telecommunications and information technology sector attracted 3.3 billion dollars in the first half of 2025. Manufacturing, energy and natural resources continued to attract significant capital. Brazil's appeal stems from its domestic market of over 210 million people, abundance of natural resources, diversified economy and strategic geographic position providing access to South American markets.

Mexico's Economy Ministry reported 34.265 billion dollars in foreign direct investment in the first half of 2025, representing the highest half year figure ever recorded. This surpassed 31.096 billion dollars in the same period in 2024 and was more than double the level of 2017. The composition showed that 84.4 per cent came from reinvested earnings, with 9.2 per cent from new equity. The United States contributed 42.9 per cent of total investment, followed by Spain at 17.3 per cent and Canada at 5.1 per cent. Manufacturing received 36 per cent of FDI, financial services 26.7 per cent, and construction 7.6 per cent. Mexico City captured 56.4 per cent of investment, whilst Nuevo León, State of Mexico, Baja California and Querétaro also attracted strong flows. The nearshoring boom drove manufacturing foreign direct investment rising by an average of 20 per cent annually since 2019, with automotive sector investment nearly doubling.

India's foreign direct investment equity inflows for the fiscal year 2026 first quarter surged by 13 per cent to 159,428 crore rupees, which equals 18.62 billion US dollars, according to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade. The services sector emerged as the top recipient, attracting 19 per cent of total inflows, followed by software and hardware at 16 per cent. According to the Reserve Bank of India, gross FDI inflows remained robust at 9.2 billion dollars in June 2025. Singapore remained India's largest FDI source for the seventh consecutive year, contributing nearly 15 billion dollars. The United States, Cyprus and Singapore together contributed more than three fourths of total FDI inflows.

Canada attracted 85.5 billion dollars in foreign direct investment in 2024, representing its best year in a decade and a 36 per cent increase over 2023 according to Invest in Canada's FDI Report 2024. This performance came despite declining global FDI and intensifying international competition. The country announced 883 projects creating 44,440 forecasted jobs, which was 1.5 times more than the 10 year average. By the end of 2024, Canada's total FDI stock reached 1.5 trillion dollars, a 35 per cent increase over the 10 year average. The United States remained the largest source of FDI stock in Canada at 762.7 billion dollars, representing 50.8 per cent of the total. Europe's investments topped 337.5 billion dollars whilst Asia and Oceania collectively invested 199.3 billion dollars in 2024. Foreign direct investment in the second quarter of 2025 showed continued strong momentum.

The United Arab Emirates received 167.6 billion dirhams, approximately 45.6 billion US dollars, in foreign direct investment inflows in 2024, representing a 48 per cent increase year on year according to UNCTAD's World Investment Report 2025. This made the UAE the world's tenth largest recipient of foreign direct investment in 2024. The country accounted for 37 per cent of all FDI inflows into the Middle East region. According to official data, the UAE ranked second globally after the United States for the number of newly announced greenfield FDI projects, with 1,369 new initiatives valued at 53.3 billion dirhams. The top sectors for greenfield FDI in 2024 included software and information technology services at 11.5 per cent, business services at 9.7 per cent, renewable energy at 9.3 per cent and oil, gas and coal at 9 per cent. In March 2025, the UAE Federal Cabinet approved the National Investment Strategy to more than double annual FDI into the economy by 2031.

Spain demonstrated strong foreign investment performance in 2024, with 351 announced projects representing a 15 per cent increase, making it the fourth largest FDI destination in Europe according to the EY Europe Attractiveness Survey. Spain created 34,603 jobs related to foreign investment in 2024, ranking second in Europe for FDI related job creation. This came even as Europe experienced a downward trend in foreign investment. The United States was the main investor in Spain, accounting for 28.9 per cent of investment flows in 2023, followed by the United Kingdom at 13.1 per cent, Germany at 10.6 per cent and France at 9.2 per cent. More than half of total foreign investment went to the services sector at 54.3 per cent, followed by industry at 42.2 per cent. France remained the leading European destination for foreign investment for the sixth consecutive year with 1,025 projects, ahead of the United Kingdom at 853 projects and Germany at 608 projects.

Vietnam and Ireland both demonstrated exceptional foreign investment growth in 2025, positioning themselves as emerging leaders. Vietnam attracted 21.51 billion dollars in the first half of 2025, marking a 32.6 per cent year on year increase according to the Ministry of Finance. Disbursed FDI reached 11.72 billion dollars, up 8.1 per cent and the highest level recorded for a first half period in five years. Major investments included Sweden's SYRE with a 1 billion dollar circular textiles hub and a 1.5 billion dollar project by the Trump Organization. Ireland recorded 179 foreign direct investment projects in the first half of 2025, representing a 37 per cent increase compared with the same period in 2024 according to IDA Ireland. These projects are expected to create over 10,000 new jobs. Both countries benefit from strategic positioning, with Vietnam serving as a manufacturing hub in Asia and Ireland providing access to European markets.