EU stocks outside the EU: €9 309 billion in 2024

Net foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks held in non-EU countries by investors resident in the EU amounted to €9 309 billion in 2024, reflecting a 1.5% increase from 2023 (€9 168 billion).

A different trend was seen in investment stocks held by non-EU residents in the EU, which decreased to €7 038 billion in 2024, down 2.5% compared with 2023 (€7 219 billion).

In 2024, the EU's net investment position vis-à-vis the rest of the world has increased by 16.5% compared with 2023.

Special Purpose Entities (SPEs) continued to play a significant role in FDI. At the end of 2024, they accounted for 29% of the total EU FDI stocks held abroad, and for 34% of the FDI stocks held by the rest of the world in the EU.

USA and the UK: main FDI partners

At the end of 2024, the United States absorbed 28.7% (€2 673 billion) of the total FDI stocks held by the EU in the rest of the world, followed by the United Kingdom (€1 813 billion, 19.5%). They were ahead of Switzerland (€778 billion, 8.4%), Brazil (€276 billion, 3.0%) and Singapore (€250 billion, 2.7%). More than 2% of EU residents' stocks were held in Canada (2.6%), China except Hong Kong (2.6%), Bermuda (2.5%), Mexico (2.2%) and the Cayman Islands (2.0%).

Source dataset: bop_fdi6_pos

In the opposite direction, the United States' direct investors accounted for most of the FDI stocks held by the rest of the world in the EU (€2 180 billion, 31.0%). The United Kingdom (€1 228 billion, 17.5%) followed, ahead of Switzerland (€630 billion, 9.0%), the Cayman Islands (€352 billion, 5.0%), Singapore (€274 billion, 3.9%) and Bermuda (€245 billion, 3.5%). Among other countries, more than 2% of the FDI stocks in the EU were held by investors from Canada (3.3%), Japan (3.3%), and the British Virgin Islands (2.1%).

Source dataset: bop_fdi6_pos