Direct Investment by Country and Industry for 2025: Visual Essay

Visual Essay

by Ryan Smith and Josefina Colantoni | September 10, 2026

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently released statistics on direct investment by country and industry for 2025. These statistics cover both U.S. direct investment abroad (USDIA, or outward investment) and foreign direct investment in the United States (FDIUS, or inward investment). The statistics cover positions (or cumulative stock of investment), financial transactions, and income and are obtained from mandatory surveys of direct investment conducted by BEA.

The following charts present highlights of BEA's direct investment by country and industry statistics for 2025. More detail, including additional data items, can be found on the BEA website.

• The U.S. direct investment abroad position (shown in the blue columns) increased $438.1 billion, or 6.5 percent, to $7.1 trillion at the end of 2025 from $6.7 trillion at the end of 2024.
• The inward direct investment position (shown in the orange columns) increased $266.0 billion, or 4.8 percent, to $5.9 trillion at the end of 2025 from $5.6 trillion at the end of 2024.

• In 2025, U.S. multinationals earned $660.1 billion on their investments abroad (shown in the blue columns), up from $594.1 billion in 2024.
• Foreign multinationals earned $310.1 billion on their U.S. investments in 2025 (shown in the orange columns), down from $316.2 billion in 2024.
• The rate of return for outward investment was 9.5 percent in 2025 (shown on the scale on the right), while the inward rate of return was 5.4 percent.

• The value of U.S. direct investment abroad (shown on the left) increased in most regions in 2025 but was led by investment in Europe, where it increased $350.2 billion.
• The value of foreign direct investment in the United States (shown on the right) saw increases for every region in 2025. The direct investment position from European countries increased $182.4 billion in 2025.
• Europe was the largest source and destination of U.S. direct investment, accounting for 60 percent of U.S. direct investment position abroad and 64 percent of foreign direct investment position in the United States.