Foreign Direct Investment by Country 2026

Executive summary

This index ranks 49 of the world's largest economies by FDI net inflows, using World Bank Open Data for cross-country comparability, and goes beyond a single snapshot: it shows the nominal figure, a ten-year history, a regional breakdown and the biggest movers. United States leads at $400.5 billion (2025); Hungary is lowest among those ranked at $-69,938,246,708. Sweden ranks 21st of 49 at $19.1 billion (2025). As reference points, the EU stands at $74.0 billion, the OECD at $777.2 billion and the world at $1.35 trillion. Every figure carries its World Bank series and reference year, and the complete dataset is free to download as CSV and JSON under a CC BY 4.0 licence.

Key findings

Overview

Foreign direct investment (FDI) — cross-border investment into companies and assets — is a key gauge of how attractive an economy is to global capital. This index ranks countries by net FDI inflows (World Bank, compiled from IMF balance-of-payments data).

Large economies attract the biggest absolute flows, but small open economies and financial hubs can dominate relative to GDP, and volatile year-to-year swings mean the trend matters more than any single year.

What drives the ranking

FDI is drawn by market size, skilled labour, stable institutions, taxation and openness. Financial hubs (Ireland, the Netherlands, Singapore) show outsized flows partly because of corporate structuring, not just real investment.

FDI is a barometer of confidence in an economy's business environment — a theme that runs through Affärslivet's company and market coverage.

What the data reveals

The field is highly concentrated at the top: the leader, United States, at $400.5 billion is about 25.7× the median of $15.6 billion across the 49 economies, and 2.52× the second-placed Singapore. In other words, FDI net inflows is dominated by a handful of standouts.

Benchmarked against the OECD average of $777.2 billion, 0 of the 49 ranked economies (0%) come out higher, and 0 exceed the world figure of $1.35 trillion. This shows how much of the distribution sits above the rich-world benchmark — a quick read on whether FDI net inflows is broadly high or concentrated among a few.

What the data says about Sweden: at $19.1 billion it ranks 21st of 49 — the upper half — above the median of $15.6 billion. That places Sweden in the solid middle of the field on FDI net inflows.

Because this is a total rather than a rate, scale dominates: the top five economies alone account for about 55% of the combined $1.47 trillion across all 49 ranked economies — a reminder that a few large players drive the global aggregate.

The spread is wide: the upper quartile of economies clusters around $37.8 billion and the lower quartile around $3.8 billion. The quartile split is a cleaner read on typical FDI net inflows than a simple average, which a few extreme values can distort.

Top 5 vs bottom 5

The five highest and five lowest economies on FDI net inflows side by side — the clearest snapshot of the range across the 49 ranked economies.

How concentrated is it?

The distribution is heavily skewed: the top five economies account for about 50.1% of the combined FDI net inflows across all 49 ranked, and the Herfindahl–Hirschman index is 909 — approaching the 2,500 level economists use to flag a highly concentrated field. The average hides how much sits at the very top.

Limitations & notes

This ranking uses the latest year each economy reports to the World Bank; reporting lags differ, so some countries carry data a year or two older than others (see the year column in the full table). It measures FDI net inflows as the source defines it — not its causes, quality, or wider welfare implications, and not any single 'best' outcome. Every figure is an official World Bank series, not an Affärslivet estimate; the complete dataset with per-country years and sources is free to download and reproduce below.

How it has changed over time

The chart tracks FDI net inflows for United States (the current leader) against Sweden over the past decade; the table below shows the top economies year by year.

By region

Median FDI net inflows by world region among the ranked economies. Regional medians reveal patterns the country ranking alone can hide.

Biggest movers

The largest changes in FDI net inflows over the available window — where the action has been.

Full ranking — 49 economies

Complete ranking by FDI net inflows, most recent World Bank data, with world region. Region aggregates (EU, OECD, World) appear in the At-a-glance box as reference points.

Scoreboard (machine-readable data)

Every headline indicator with its value, period, source and confidence. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.

↓ CSV · ↓ JSON

Methodology & verification

Economies are ranked by FDI net inflows using the World Bank Open Data API, which harmonises national statistics for cross-country comparison. Each value is the most recent year available for that economy, shown alongside the figure; the trend table uses each economy's reported history. Economies with no reported value are omitted rather than estimated. Region aggregates (EU, euro area, OECD, World) are reference points, not ranked. FDI figures are volatile and inflated in hub economies by pass-through and holding-company flows that do not reflect real productive investment; single-year figures can mislead. Confidence: High (official multilateral source).

Data dictionary

Frequently asked questions

Glossary

Fdi Net Inflows

Foreign direct investment, net inflows (US$) — as reported by the World Bank. ↗

World Bank Open Data

A free, authoritative database of harmonised economic indicators for every country. ↗

Purchasing-power parity (PPP)

A conversion that equalises the price of a comparable basket of goods across countries, so output and incomes can be compared in real terms rather than at market exchange rates. ↗

Nominal (current US$)

A value converted at prevailing market exchange rates and not adjusted for differences in price levels. ↗

GNI per capita

Gross national income per person — like GDP per capita but including net income earned abroad; useful where cross-border corporate flows are large. ↗

Reference year

The year a figure applies to; it can differ across countries because national statistics are published on different schedules. ↗

Region aggregate

A World Bank grouping (e.g. European Union, OECD, World) whose value is a weighted regional total or average, shown here for reference rather than ranked. ↗

Sources

• World Bank Open Data — Foreign direct investment, net inflows (US$)
• IMF Balance of Payments via World Bank
• World Bank Open Data (home)
• IMF World Economic Outlook (comparison)
• OECD Data
• Affärslivet — Sweden Economic Indicators

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• Current Account Balance by Country 2026
• Affärslivet Business Climate Index
• Sweden Economic Indicators