Global foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 41% in the first half of 2018, to an estimated $470 billion from $800 billion in the same period in 2017 .
The decline is mainly due to large repatriations by United States parent companies of accumulated foreign earnings from their affiliates abroad following tax reforms – according to figures released by UNCTAD today.
The latest global FDI figures and analysis can be found in the new edition of UNCTAD’s Investment Trends Monitor.
The figures are released ahead of UNCTAD’s World Investment Forum 2018, where more than 5,000 participants from 160 countries are due to meet to thrash out major new investment-for-development initiatives at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, from 22–26 October.