European Commission - Directorate-General for Econ : 22.01.2013 - EU27 investment stocks in the rest of the world increased by 50% between 2008 and 2011

11/2013 - 22 January 2013

Foreign Direct Investment

EU27 investment stocks in the rest of the world increased by 50% between 2008 and 2011

Amounted to 5 000 billion euro at the end of 2011

At the end of 2011, the EU27 held Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) stocks1 of 4 983 billion euro in the rest of the world, while stocks held by the rest of the world in the EU27 amounted to 3 807 bn, meaning that the EU27 is a net investor in the rest of the world. Both stocks held by the EU27 and those held by the rest of the world have risen steadily between 2008 and 2011, increasing by about 50%, while EU27 stocks held in another Member State have risen by around 20% during the same period. It should be noted however that stocks held in the rest of the world represent about 40% of total EU27 FDI stocks, with 60% held in another EU Member State.

FDI stocks help to quantify the impact of globalisation and provide a measurement of longstanding economic links between countries. They measure the accumulated value of all FDI carried out in the past. These figures2 are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

United States and Switzerland are the main partners of the EU27

As regards EU27 FDI stocks in the rest of the world, the main destinations at the end of 2011 were the United

States (1 421 bn euro or 29% of total stocks held by the EU27), Switzerland (598 bn or 12%), Brazil (239 bn or

5%), Canada (222 bn or 4%), Russia (167 bn or 3%), Australia (125 bn or 3%), Hong Kong (124 bn or 2%),

Singapore (123 bn or 2%) and China (102 bn or 2%).

As regards FDI stocks held by the rest of the world in the EU27, the leading partners are similar, the main investors being the United States (1 344 bn euro or 35% of total stocks held by the rest of the world), Switzerland (467 bn or 12%), Japan (144 bn or 4%), Canada (138 bn or 4%), Brazil (78 bn or 2%), Norway (75 bn or 2%), Singapore (67 bn or 2%), Hong Kong (64 bn or 2%) and Russia (53 bn or 1%).

Foreign Direct Investment stocks by partner, billion euro

	Stocks held by the EU27 in the rest of the world	Stocks held by the rest of the world in the EU27
	2008	2009	2010	2011	2008	2009	2010	2011
Total extra EU27	3 322.0	3 751.0	4 247.0	4 983.5	2 496.0	2 783.3	3 142.8	3 806.8
Europe (non EU), of which	827.6	893.3	1 013.8	1 137.9	466.6	540.7	625.0	713.5
Switzerland	463.3	518.5	543.8	598.2	303.4	340.0	395.9	467.3
Norway	53.4	61.5	91.9	94.9	56.3	64.4	68.2	74.6
Russia	89.1	99.1

* Including Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen

** Excluding Hong Kong

: Data not available

The sum of continents does not always equal total extra-EU because of not allocated stocks.

Offshore Financial Centres are composed of countries included in the continental aggregates (see footnote 3).

1. Foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks denote the value of the investment at the end of the period. FDI are the category of international investment that reflects the objective of obtaining a lasting interest by an investor in one economy in an enterprise resident in another economy. The lasting interest implies that a long-term relationship exists between the investor and the enterprise, and that the investor has a significant influence on the way the enterprise is managed. Such an interest is formally deemed to exist when a direct investor owns 10% or more of the voting power on the board of directors (for an incorporated enterprise) or the equivalent (for an unincorporated enterprise).
2. The figures presented correspond to the latest annual FDI data transmission by the EU Member States. Data for the EU aggregate take into account confidential data, estimates for Member States missing data and data for Special Purpose Entities (SPEs), that are additionally collected by Eurostat and the ECB from Member States not including SPEs' FDI in national data. This ensures adherence to international standards, exhaustiveness of the EU aggregates and explains why the total of Member States' stocks differs from the EU aggregates. SPEs are mainly financial holding companies, foreign- owned, and principally engaged in cross-border financial transactions, with no or negligible local activity in the Member State of residence.
3. Offshore Financial Centres (OFC) is an aggregate used in Eurostat FDI data which includes 38 countries up to 2010 and 40 countries in 2011. As examples, the aggregate contains European financial centres, such as Liechtenstein, Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man, Andorra and Gibraltar; Central American OFC such as Panama and Caribbean islands like Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and the Virgin Islands; and Asian OFC such as Bahrain, Hong Kong, Singapore and Philippines.

Published by: Eurostat Press Office:

Louise CORSELLI-NORDBLAD Tel: [phone]

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