The US has the largest inward FDI stock, followed by China, the UK and the Netherlands
The decline in the global stock of FDI last year is at odds with the rapid rise over the past three decades, which has enabled countries to accumulate huge stockpiles of overseas investment.
At the end of 2022, the market value of global inward FDI stock stood at $44.3tn, down by 6% from a year earlier, according to Unctad’s latest annual world investment report. This is counter to the remarkable rate of growth since 1990, when global FDI stock was worth $2.2tn.
FDI stock is the total cumulative direct investment made by foreign investors in a country at a specific moment in time. It gives an indication of historical investment activity in a country and its integration in the global economy. This is opposed to FDI flows – cross-border direct investment over a specific time period such as a year or quarter – which demonstrate a country’s attractiveness to foreign investors during that period.
