Emerging-Market Indicators

Foreign direct investment

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Direct investors, who exert influence over the enterprises they buy or build, ventured $916 billion across borders in 2005, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. This was 29% more than the year before, but still short of the $1.4 trillion invested in 2000. Developing countries, however, attracted a record amount of FDI, totalling $334 billion. Flows to the Middle East rose by 85%, to $34 billion, and investment in Africa grew by 78% to $31 billion, with large sums put into Egypt ($5.4 billion) and South Africa ($6.4 billion). Even the Congo attracted an estimated $1.3 billion of FDI in 2005, compared with just $15m the year before. China is not just a magnet for FDI, but also a rich source of it. Its flows of direct investment abroad grew from $1.8 billion in 2004 to $11.3 billion last year.

This article appeared in the Emerging-Market Indicators section of the print edition under the headline "Foreign direct investment"

America drops, Asia shops

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