Eurostat Publishes EU27 FDI Figures For 2006

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

25 May 2007

Figures published on Thursday revealed that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows to and from the 27 EU member states increased by 38% in 2006.

According to the Statistical Office of the European Communities, Eurostat, in 2006 European Union FDI in extra-EU27 countries (outflows) rose by 35%, from EUR136 billion in 2005 to EUR183 billion in 2006, while FDI into the EU27 from the rest of the world (inflows) increased by 42%, from EUR95 billion to EUR135 billion.

Also in 2006, intra-EU272 FDI flows fell by 8% compared with 2005.

The increase in FDI interactions with the rest of the world was strongly influenced by the growth in EU27 flows with North America.

In 2006, the EU27 invested EUR71 billion in the USA and EUR22 billion in Canada, compared with EUR37 billion and EUR13 billion respectively in 2005. The USA invested EUR48 billion, and Canada EUR5 billion in the EU27 in 2006, compared with EUR19 billion and EUR7 billion respectively in 2005.

Excluding North America, EU27 investment in other extra-EU27 countries rose by 5% in 2006.

EU27 investments in offshore financial centres rose from EUR23 billion in 2005 to EUR47 billion in 2006. Investments coming from the rest of the world (excluding North America) increased by 20%, the main growth coming in investments from offshore financial centres (from EUR18 billion to EUR37 billion) and Japan (from EUR6 billion to EUR11 billion).

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