Brussels, 19/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - While 60% of foreign investment into the EU is from the USA, offshore financial centres are the main destinations for European investments abroad.
EU foreign direct investment (FDI) to the rest of the world reached €171 billion in 2012, while FDI into the EU from the rest of the world was worth €159 billion. FDI from eurozone countries reached €238 billion the same year, and FDI into the eurozone by third countries stood at €193 billion. The main destinations for the EU's FDI were the offshore financial centres (Liechtenstein, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, Faroe Isles, Andorra and Gibraltar in Europe; Panama, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and the Virgin Islands in Central America and the Caribbean, Bahrain, Singapore and the Philippines in Asia) with €18 billion, ahead of Canada and India (€16 billion each), the United States (€15 billion), China and Hong Kong (€10 billion each) and Russia (€9 billion). Disinvestments were recorded in Switzerland (-€3 billion) and Japan (-€2 billion).
In terms of FDI inflows, the top investor into the EU was by far the USA with €99 billion of investments, followed by Canada (€19 billion), Japan (€8 billion), and Russia and Hong Kong (€7 billion each). Disinvestments were recorded from Switzerland (-€6 billion), India (-€3 billion) and Brazil (-€1 billion). (EH/transl.fl)