Foreign direct investment (% of GDP) by country
Foreign direct investment is net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting management interest (10 percent or more of voting stock) in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor. It is the sum of equity capital, reinvestment of earnings, other long-term capital, and short-term capital as...
What the numbers show
Foreign direct investment (% of GDP) is currently reported for 41 countries. The highest value is 119.1% in Mauritius; the lowest is -4.9% in Angola.
The median across all reporting countries is 3.3%, and the mean is 9.7%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 24.
Over the past decade 20 countries rose and 19 fell. The largest increase was in Mauritius (up 144,334.0%), and the largest decrease in Egypt (down 108.2%).
Foreign direct investment: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mauritius | 119.1% | 2011 | up 144,334.0% | volatile |
| 2 | Liberia | 84.9% | 2011 | up 456.0% | volatile |
| 3 | Sierra Leone | 24.0% | 2011 | up 331.5% | volatile |
| 4 | Guinea | 18.8% | 2011 | up 162.5% | volatile |
| 5 | Niger | 18.5% | 2010 | up 1,713.0% | volatile |
| 6 | Mozambique | 16.4% | 2011 | up 898.9% | volatile |
| 7 | Sao Tome and Principe | 14.0% | 2011 | up 1,331.7% | volatile |
| 8 | Seychelles | 12.9% | 2011 | up 51.3% | rising |
| 9 | Djibouti | 9.2% | 2009 | — | volatile |
| 10 | Ghana | 8.2% | 2011 | up 503.7% | rising |
| 11 | Namibia | 7.6% | 2011 | up 36.6% | rising |
| 12 | Lesotho | 5.6% | 2011 | up 7.8% | rising |
| 13 | Cape Verde | 5.5% | 2011 | down 34.1% | falling |
| 14 | Sudan | 4.8% | 2011 | down 61.8% | falling |
| 15 | Uganda | 4.7% | 2011 | up 15.3% | falling |
| 16 | Tanzania, United Republic of | 4.6% | 2011 | down 30.6% | falling |
| 17 | Zambia | 4.3% | 2011 | down 12.9% | falling |
| 18 | Mali | 4.2% | 2010 | down 0.2% | volatile |
| 19 | Gambia | 4.0% | 2011 | down 53.4% | falling |
| 20 | Eswatini | 3.4% | 2010 | up 467.3% | volatile |
| 21 | Guinea-Bissau | 3.3% | 2010 | up 137.6% | rising |
| 22 | Nigeria | 3.3% | 2011 | down 25.7% | falling |
| 23 | Benin | 3.0% | 2010 | up 142.2% | volatile |
| 24 | Morocco | 2.3% | 2011 | down 15.4% | falling |
| 25 | Ethiopia | 2.1% | 2011 | down 4.0% | volatile |
| 26 | Senegal | 2.1% | 2010 | up 241.4% | rising |
| 27 | Botswana | 1.8% | 2010 | down 58.3% | falling |
| 28 | Rwanda | 1.7% | 2011 | up 306.9% | volatile |
| 29 | Togo | 1.5% | 2010 | down 64.9% | volatile |
| 30 | South Africa | 1.5% | 2011 | down 34.8% | volatile |
| 31 | Malawi | 1.5% | 2011 | down 70.3% | volatile |
| 32 | Côte d'Ivoire | 1.4% | 2010 | down 28.1% | falling |
| 33 | Algeria | 1.1% | 2011 | down 0.1% | rising |
| 34 | Kenya | 1.0% | 2011 | up 1,475.7% | volatile |
| 35 | Tunisia | 0.9% | 2011 | down 57.8% | volatile |
| 36 | Burkina Faso | 0.4% | 2010 | down 34.1% | volatile |
| 37 | Libya | 0.3% | 2009 | — | volatile |
| 38 | Cameroon | 0.2% | 2010 | down 89.9% | volatile |
| 39 | Burundi | 0.1% | 2011 | up 175.6% | volatile |
| 40 | Egypt | -0.5% | 2011 | down 108.2% | volatile |
| 41 | Angola | -4.9% | 2011 | up 1.4% | volatile |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
About this data
Foreign direct investment is net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting management interest (10 percent or more of voting stock) in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor. It is the sum of equity capital, reinvestment of earnings, other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown in the balance of payments. This series shows total net, that is, net FDI in the reporting economy from foreign sources less net FDI by the reporting economy to the rest of the world. Data are in current U.S. dollars.