On May 23, 2017 the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) published Issue 23 of its Global Investment Trends Monitor, on the occasion of the High-Level Forum on Finance for Development in New York.
Key findings include the following:
- Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to structurally weak, vulnerable and small economies declined in 2016, although some groups were less affected than others. Their share in the world total shrank from 3.6 per cent in 2015 to 3.3 per cent.
- After a high of $44 billion in 2015, flows to the 48 least developed countries (LDCs) retreated by 13 per cent to $38 billion. FDI to commodity-rich LDCs in Africa, notably Angola, Mozambique and Zambia, continued to decline, and flows to Asian LDCs slowed after a record year in 2015.
- Investors from developing economies, led by China, continue to actively expand into LDCs and landlocked developing countries (LLDCs). In fact, China’s outward FDI became three times as much as the second largest investing economy. Developing economies accounted for seven of the top 10 investors in SIDS.
You may download the monitor from the UNCTAD publications library.