Paris: Global foreign direct investment flows rebounded in the first half of the year to $802 billion from $727 billion a year before, according to data released Thursday. The increase was primarily driven by a strong performance in the first quarter, where figures more than doubled. However, this was followed by a 36% drop in the second quarter, as indicated by data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
According to Anadolu Agency, inflows of foreign direct investment surged by 80% in the first half of the year within the OECD area, largely attributed to disinvestments in the Netherlands. Despite this, when excluding the highly fluctuating flows into Luxembourg and the Netherlands, foreign direct investments actually saw a decline of 14%. The United States was the largest recipient of foreign direct investment during this period, followed by Brazil and Mexico.
In advanced economies, there was a marginal rise of 16% in cross-border mergers and acquisitions. However, the OECD
noted a significant decline in capital expenditures for announced greenfield investment projects in emerging markets and developing economies, hitting their lowest quarterly levels over the past two years in the second quarter.