Net foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks held in non-EU countries by investors resident in the EU amounted to €9 479 billion in 2025, down 2.3% from 2024 (€9 701 billion).
Investment stocks held by non-EU residents in the EU also fell to €6 988 billion, down 2.8% from 2024 (€7 186 billion). FDI stocks held by the rest of the world in the EU have been decreasing since 2022 (€7 878 billion), when they reached their highest level since 2013.
Special Purpose Entities (SPEs) continued to play a significant role in FDI. At the end of 2025, they accounted for 26.2% of total EU FDI stocks held abroad and 33.3% of FDI stocks held by the rest of the world in the EU.
EU stocks distribution worldwide
At the end of 2025, the United States absorbed 29.4% (€2 791 billion) of the total FDI stocks held by the EU in the rest of the world, followed by the United Kingdom (€1 877 billion, 19.8%), Switzerland (€812 billion, 8.6%), Brazil (€310 billion, 3.3%) and Canada (€246 billion, 2.6%).
The Cayman Islands and Mexico each accounted for 2.4% of the EU’s FDI stocks in the rest of the world, followed by China (excluding Hong Kong) and Singapore (2.3% each) and Bermuda (2.0%).
Source dataset: bop_fdi6_pos
In the opposite direction, the United States accounted for most of the FDI stocks held by the rest of the world in the EU (€2 075 billion, 29.7%). The United Kingdom followed (€1 262 billion, 18.1%), ahead of Switzerland (€602 billion, 8.6%), the Cayman Islands (€323 billion, 4.6%), and Japan (€249 billion, 3.6%).
Among other countries, investors from Singapore (3.5%), Canada (3.2%), Bermuda (2.8%), and Gibraltar and Jersey (both 2.1%) held more than 2% of FDI stocks in the EU.
Source dataset: bop_fdi6_pos
