The EU’s net foreign direct investment (FDI) position, in relation to the rest of the world, increased by 16.5 per cent in 2024 compared with 2023, according to Eurostat.
This increase was driven by contrasting movements in FDI stocks held by EU investors abroad and those held by non-EU investors within the bloc.
The net FDI stocks held in non-EU countries by investors resident in the EU amounted to €9.30 trillion in 2024, reflecting a 1.5 per cent increase from the €9.16 trillion recorded in 2023.
A different trend was seen in the investment stocks held by non-EU residents in the EU, which decreased to €7.03 trillion in 2024, falling 2.5 per cent compared with the €7.21 trillion total in 2023.
The United States and the United Kingdom continued to be the main FDI partners for the EU in both directions.
At the end of 2024, the United States was the destination for 28.7 per cent (€2.67 trillion) of the total FDI stocks held by the EU in the rest of the world.
This was followed by the United Kingdom, which accounted for 19.5 per cent (€1.81 trillion).
These two countries were ahead of Switzerland (€778 billion, 8.4 per cent), Brazil (€276 billion, 3.0 per cent), and Singapore (€250 billion, 2.7 per cent).
Other non-EU countries holding more than 2 per cent of EU residents’ stocks were Canada (2.6 per cent), China except Hong Kong (2.6 per cent), Bermuda (2.5 per cent), Mexico (2.2 per cent), and the Cayman Islands (2.0 per cent).
In the opposite flow, the United States’ direct investors accounted for the largest share of FDI stocks held by the rest of the world in the EU, standing at €2.18 trillion (31.0 per cent).
The United Kingdom followed at €1.22 trillion (17.5 per cent), ahead of Switzerland (€630 billion, 9.0 per cent), the Cayman Islands (€352 billion, 5.0 per cent), Singapore (€274 billion, 3.9 per cent), and Bermuda (€245 billion, 3.5 per cent).
Among other countries, investors from Canada (3.3 per cent), Japan (3.3 per cent), and the British Virgin Islands (2.1 per cent) held more than 2 per cent of the FDI stocks in the EU.
Special Purpose Entities (SPEs) continued to play a significant role in overall FDI figures.
At the end of 2024, they accounted for 29 per cent of the total EU FDI stocks held abroad and for 34 per cent of the FDI stocks held by the rest of the world in the EU, demonstrating their importance in facilitating international investment flows.
