New Foreign Direct Investment in the United States in 2024

August 18, 2025

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently released statistics on 2024 new foreign direct investment in the United States. These statistics provide information on the acquisition and establishment of U.S. business enterprises by foreign investors and on the expansion of existing U.S. affiliates of foreign companies to establish new production facilities. These annual statistics provide information on the amount and characteristics of new investments in the United States by foreign investors and are obtained from a mandatory survey of foreign-owned U.S. businesses conducted by BEA.

Key Terms

Direct investment is a category of cross-border investment associated with a resident in one economy having control or a significant degree of influence on the management of an enterprise resident in another economy. Ownership or control of 10 percent or more of the voting securities of an entity in another economy is the threshold for separating direct investment from other types of investment.

A U.S. affiliate is a U.S. business enterprise that is at least 10 percent owned by a single foreign person or entity.

The ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) is the person, or entity, that ultimately owns or controls a U.S. affiliate of a foreign company and that derives the benefits associated with ownership or control. The UBO of a U.S. affiliate is that person, or entity, proceeding up a chain of majority-ownership (where the entity above owns more than 50 percent of the entity below), beginning with and including the foreign parent, that is not owned more than 50 percent by another person, or entity. Unlike the foreign parent, the UBO of a U.S. affiliate may be located in the United States.

An acquisition occurs when a foreign entity acquires a voting interest (directly, or indirectly, through an existing U.S. affiliate) of at least 10 percent in a U.S. business enterprise. Acquisitions of additional voting interest in existing U.S. affiliates in which a foreign entity already has a 10 percent voting interest are excluded.

An establishment occurs when a foreign entity, or an existing U.S. affiliate of a foreign entity, establishes a new legal entity in the United States in which the foreign entity owns 10 percent or more of the new business enterprise’s voting interest.

An expansion occurs when an existing U.S. affiliate of a foreign parent expands its operations to include a new facility where business is conducted.

Greenfield investment includes establishments and expansions.

Chart 1. New Foreign Direct Investment in the United States, 1999–2024. Stacked Bar Chart.

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Expenditures by foreign direct investors to acquire, establish, or expand U.S. businesses totaled $151.0 billion (preliminary) in 2024.
Expenditures decreased $24.9 billion, or 14.2 percent, from $176.0 billion (revised) in 2023 and were below the annual average of $277.2 billion for 2014–2023.
As in previous years, acquisitions of existing U.S. businesses accounted for a large majority of total expenditures.
In 2024, expenditures for acquisitions were $143.0 billion, expenditures to establish new U.S. businesses were $6.3 billion, and expenditures to expand existing foreign-owned businesses were $1.8 billion.
Planned total expenditures, which include both first-year and planned future expenditures for investments initiated in 2024, were $157.0 billion.

Chart 2. First Year Expenditures by Region of Ultimate Beneficial Owner, 2020–2024. Bar Chart.

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Europe was the largest source of new foreign direct investment expenditures in 2024.
Europe was the largest source of new foreign direct investment in all years since the re-introduction of the survey in 2014. Expenditures from European investors increased $35.5 billion from $61.1 billion in 2023 to $96.7 billion in 2024.
Europe contributed 64.0 percent of new investment expenditures in 2024.

Chart 3. First-Year Expenditures by Country of Ultimate Beneficial Owner, 2024. Bar Chart.

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By country of UBO, the largest investing country was Ireland, with expenditures of $30.1 billion in 2024.
Canada ($23.9 billion) was the second-largest country, falling from the first spot in 2023, when the country contributed $59.1 billion.
Ireland and Canada combined for 35.8 percent of first-year expenditures in 2024.

Chart 4. First-Year Expenditures by Industry of Affiliate, 2020–2024. Stacked Bar Chart.

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By industry of affiliate, in 2024, manufacturing accounted for $67.7 billion in first-year expenditures.
Manufacturing accounted for 44.9 percent of all first-year expenditures in 2024.
Between 2014 and 2023, manufacturing contributed on average 43.6 percent of all first-year expenditures.
Finance and insurance ($23.2 billion) saw its largest nominal contribution to first-year expenditures since 2016.

Chart 5. Planned Total Expenditures for Greenfield Investments, 2014–2024. Stacked Bar Chart.

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Greenfield first-year expenditures—expenditures to either establish a new U.S. business or to expand an existing foreign-owned U.S. business—were $8.1 billion in 2024.
Planned total expenditures for greenfield investment initiated in 2024, which include both first-year and planned future expenditures, were $14.1 billion.
Greenfield projects can take years to complete. Over half of the total planned expenditures for these projects are incurred in years beyond the one in which the investment was initiated.
In 2022, the initial planned expenditures were $99.3 billion, with recent updates reflecting an upward adjustment to $103.7 billion.

Chart 6. Current Employment by Country of Ultimate Beneficial Owner, 2024. Bar Chart.

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In 2024, current employment at newly acquired, established, or expanded foreign-owned businesses in the United States was 204,200 employees.
Current employment of acquired enterprises was 203,600 employees.
By country of UBO, Ireland (43,100), Canada (37,500), the United Kingdom (27,100), and Japan (14,800) accounted for the largest number of employees.
The top four countries contributed a cumulative 60.0 percent of total current employment.

Chart 7. Current and Planned Future Employment by State, 2024. Bar Chart.

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In 2024, planned total employment from new foreign direct investment transactions was 213,200 employees.
Florida (33,600), Texas (19,000), and New York (14,600) led the way with a combined 67,200 planned total employees.
Planned total employment from greenfield investments initiated in 2024, which includes first-year and planned future employment, totaled 9,600 employees.

Chart 8. Total Current Employment by State, for Investments Initiated in 2024. Map Chart.

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All 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia recorded current employment resulting from new foreign direct investment in 2024.
Thirty-four states recorded over 1,000 employees from new foreign direct investment in 2024.
California, Texas, Florida, Ohio, and New York all accounted for more than 10,000 current employees.
California and Texas have accounted for more than 10,000 employees for three consecutive years, starting in 2022.

New Foreign Direct Investment in the United States in 2024

Expenditures

Employment