Net foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks held in the rest of the world by investors resident in the EU amounted to €8 589 billion (bn) at the end of 2020, down by 5% compared with the end of 2019. Meanwhile, investment stocks held by the rest of the world in the EU increased to €7 317 bn at the end of 2020 (+2%). Consequently, the EUˈs net investment position vis-à-vis the rest of the world was lower than a year earlier i.e. €1 272 bn at the end of 2020 compared with €1 907 bn at the end of 2019 (-€635 million, -33%).
This information comes from data on foreign direct investments published by Eurostat today.
Source dataset: bop_fdi6_pos
Special Purpose Entities (SPEs) resident in the EU continued to play a significant role in FDI, albeit a less prominent one than a year earlier. At the end of 2020 they accounted for 40% of the total EU FDI stocks held abroad and for 49% of the FDI stocks held by the rest of the world in the EU, compared with 50% and 59% respectively in 2019.
USA and the UK: by far the main FDI partners
At the end of 2020, the United States absorbed 24% of the total FDI stocks held by the EU in the rest of the world (€2 090 bn), closely followed by the United Kingdom (€1 869 bn, 22%). They were far ahead of Switzerland (€922 bn, 11%), Canada (€297 bn, 3%), Russia (€279 bn, 3%), Brazil (€263 bn, 3%) and Singapore (€256 bn, 3%).
Source dataset: bop_fdi6_pos
In the reverse direction, the United States’ direct investors accounted for almost a third (€2 317 bn, 32%) of the total FDI stocks held by the rest of the world in the EU at the end of 2020, followed by the United Kingdom (€1 247 bn, 17%). They were followed by those from Switzerland (€691 bn, 9%), Bermuda (€458 bn, 6%), Jersey (€277 bn, 4%), Canada (€241 bn, 3%), Japan (€222 bn, 3%) and the Cayman Islands (€185 bn, 3%).
Source dataset: bop_fdi6_pos
For more information:
- These data are subject to revision.
- FDI stocks help to quantify the impact of globalisation and measure longstanding economic links between countries (according to immediate counterpart criteria). They provide an indication of the relative importance of a country’s economic presence abroad, or that of foreign partners in the reporting entity, measured in terms of FDI capital.
- Eurostat website section dedicated to foreign direct investment statistics
- Eurostat database on balance of payments and EU direct investments
- Eurostat Statistics Explained article on FDI statistics methodology
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