Foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks held by non-EU residents in the EU community bloc decreased by 2.8% by the end of 2025, reaching a level of EUR 6.988 billion, compared to EUR 7.186 billion recorded in 2024. This decline continues a downward trend that began in 2022, when world FDI holdings in the EU reached a historic high of EUR 7.878 billion, since 2013. [1]
Special purpose entities (SPEs) have maintained a crucial role in the FDI structure. By the end of 2025, they accounted for 26.2% of total FDI stocks held by the EU overseas, and 33.3% of FDI stocks held by external residents in the European Union. [1]
The United States absorbed the largest share of the EU's FDI stocks held abroad, concentrating 29.4% (EUR 2,791 billion) of the total. After the USA come the United Kingdom, with EUR 1,877 billion (19.8%), Switzerland (EUR 812 billion, 8.6%), Brazil (EUR 310 billion, 3.3%), and Canada (EUR 246 billion, 2.6%). Other significant destinations are the Cayman Islands and Mexico (each with 2.4%), China (excluding Hong Kong) and Singapore (each with 2.3%), and Bermuda (2%). [1]
In the opposite direction, the United States constitute the largest source of foreign direct investment in the EU, holding 29.7% (EUR 2,075 billion) of total stocks. The UK ranks second with EUR 1,262 billion (18.1%), followed by Switzerland (EUR 602 billion, 8.6%), the Cayman Islands (EUR 323 billion, 4.6%), and Japan (EUR 249 billion, 3.6%). Investors from Singapore (3.5%), Canada (3.2%), and Bermuda (2.8%) also hold a share of over 2% of FDI stocks in the EU community block. [1]
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Update
EU stocks of foreign direct investment outside the community bloc fell by 2% in 2025 - Eurostat data
According to Eurostat data, EU foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks outside the community bloc fell by 2.3% in 2025. The United States remain the main recipients, accounting for nearly a third of the flow, followed by the UK and Switzerland. Special purpose entities (SPEs) continue to play a major structural role in these positions. [2]
Recent data confirm a contraction trend in FDI stocks held by the rest of the world in the EU, triggered in 2022, once these assets reached a historic maximum level of EUR 7,878 billion. A decline of 2.8% in the stocks held by non-EU residents in the EU community block brings the total value to EUR 6,988 billion, compared to EUR 7,186 billion recorded in 2024. [2]
The geographic structure of EU stocks held overseas is dominated by the US, which holds 29.4% (EUR 2,791 billion), followed by the United Kingdom (19.8%, EUR 1,877 billion) and Switzerland (8.6%, EUR 812 billion). Other significant destinations include Brazil, Canada, the Cayman Islands, Mexico, China, Singapore, and Bermuda. Conversely, the US is also the largest source of FDI in the EU (29.7%), followed by the UK, Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, and Japan. [2]
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