Direct Investment by Country and Industry for 2024

September 4, 2025

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently released statistics on direct investment by country and industry for 2024. These statistics cover both U.S. direct investment abroad (USDIA, or outward investment) and foreign direct investment in the United States (FDIUS, or inward investment). The statistics cover positions (or cumulative stock of investment), financial transactions, and income and are obtained from mandatory surveys of direct investment conducted by BEA.

The following charts present highlights of BEA's direct investment by country and industry statistics for 2024. More detail, including additional data items, can be found on the direct investment by country and industry product page on the BEA website.

Chart 1. Direct Investment Positions, 2012–2024. Bar Chart.

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The U.S. direct investment abroad position increased $206.3 billion, or 3.1 percent, to $6.83 trillion at the end of 2024 from $6.62 trillion at the end of 2023.
The inward direct investment position increased $332.1 billion, or 6.2 percent, to $5.71 trillion at the end of 2024 from $5.38 trillion at the end of 2023.

Chart 2. Chart 2. Direct Investment Income and Rates of Return, 2008–2024. Bar and Line Chart.

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In 2024, U.S. multinationals earned $601.9 billion on their investments abroad, up from $579.7 billion in 2023.
Foreign multinationals earned $310.9 billion on their U.S. investments in 2024, up from $275.0 billion in 2023.
The rate of return for outward investment was 9.0 percent in 2024, while the inward rate of return was 5.6 percent.

Chart 3. Direct Investment Position by Region, 2023–2024. Bar Chart.

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The value of U.S. direct investment abroad increased in most regions in 2024 but was led by investment in Europe, where it increased $88.4 billion.
The value of foreign direct investment in the United States increased from every region except the Middle East and Africa. The direct investment position from European countries increased $204.7 billion in 2024.
Europe was the largest source and destination of U.S. direct investment, accounting for 58 percent of the U.S. direct investment position abroad and 64 percent of the foreign direct investment position in the United States.

Chart 4. Top Ten Host Countries for USDIA Position, 2023–2024. Bar Chart.

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The top 10 host countries accounted for 74.4 percent of the total U.S. direct investment abroad position in 2024.
The U.S. direct investment position abroad was the largest in the United Kingdom ($1.02 trillion), followed by the Netherlands ($1.01 trillion) and Luxembourg ($569.6 billion).
The top three countries remained the same as in the prior year, but Singapore rose one spot to be the fourth-largest destination country (rising from eighth in 2020). Germany increased one spot to replace Switzerland for the ninth-largest destination country for U.S. direct investment.

Chart 5. USDIA Position for Singapore by Industry of Affiliate, 2012–2024. Bar Chart.

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The U.S. direct investment abroad position in Singapore was $467.6 billion in 2024. Since 2012, the U.S. direct investment position in Singapore increased 222.0 percent (the largest percent increase of any of the top 10 countries).
By industry of affiliate, the largest industry was holding companies, with 54.6 percent of total investment from the United States.
Investment in holding companies in Singapore increased from $151.9 billion in 2019 to $255.4 billion in 2024.
Manufacturing was the second-largest industry, with $87.5 billion.

Chart 6. USDIA Position by Industry of Affiliate and by Industry of Parent, 2024. Bar Chart.

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U.S. parent companies invest in a variety of industries, but nearly half of the overall U.S. direct investment position abroad is in holding companies. These companies own other foreign affiliates that operate in a variety of industries.
By industry of the U.S. parent, investment by manufacturing multinationals accounted for 50.9 percent of the position, followed by multinationals in finance and insurance (15.1 percent).

Chart 7. Top 10 Investing Countries for FDIUS, 2023–2024. Bar Chart.

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The top 10 investing countries accounted for 82.9 percent of the foreign direct investment position in the United States. The top five investing countries accounted for more than half of the total position.
Japan was the top investing country in 2024, with a position of $754.1 billion.
Japan's position increased $54.3 billion, or 7.8 percent, from 2023 to 2024—the largest increase for any country in that time period.

Chart 8. FDIUS Position by Country of Foreign Parent and of the Ultimate Beneficial Owner, 2024. Bar Chart.

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Multinational enterprises can have complex ownership structures. To provide a more complete picture of these structures, BEA produces two sets of statistics on the ownership of foreign direct investment in the United States. The first, by country of foreign parent, focuses on the country of the immediate investor. The second, by country of the ultimate beneficial owner (UBO), shows where the ultimate owner of the U.S. affiliate is located.
Multinationals from Japan tend to own their U.S. affiliates directly, and the position by country of foreign parent ($754.1 billion) and by country of UBO ($819.2 billion) are relatively close in value.
When the orange bar is significantly higher than the blue bar, such as with Germany, multinationals from these countries are passing their investments through other entities in the ownership chain before entering the United States. The German position by country of foreign parent ($506.2 billion) is much lower than by country of UBO ($677.3 billion).
When the blue bar is significantly higher than the orange bar, such as with Luxembourg and the Netherlands, companies often act as pass-through entities for multinationals based in other countries. The Dutch position by country of foreign parent ($726.4 billion) is much greater than the position by country of UBO ($247.7 billion).
The United States appears as a country of UBO when foreign direct investment ownership chains are ultimately owned by an entity in the United States. This generally occurs as a result of mergers and acquisition activity. In 2024, the United States position by country of UBO was $165.1 billion.

Chart 9. FDIUS by Country of Ultimate Beneficial Owner and Industry of U.S. Affiliate, 2023. Stacked Bar Chart.

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By country of UBO, the top 10 countries accounted for 79.2 percent of the foreign direct investment position in the United States. Japan had the largest position ($819.2 billion) in 2024, followed by Canada ($811.7 billion) and Germany ($677.3 billion).
Multinationals from the United Kingdom often invest in the U.S. manufacturing sector, with manufacturing affiliates accounting for 60.0 percent of their investments, while Canadian multinationals have a larger proportion of their investment in finance-related industries, comprising 32.6 percent of their overall position.

Chart 10. FDIUS Position by Industry, 2023–2024. Bar Chart.

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In 2024, manufacturing accounted for the largest proportion of foreign direct investment in the United States, with 42.3 percent, or $2.4 trillion.
Finance and insurance was second, with 10.5 percent, or $599.4 billion, and wholesale trade was third, with 9.1 percent, or $520.5 billion.
Wholesale trade was the only sector to experience a decline in overall investment position in 2024, falling $20.7 billion from the level in 2023.

Chart 11. FDIUS Manufacturing Industry, 2023–2024. Bar Chart.

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Within manufacturing, the largest share of foreign direct investment was in chemicals manufacturing, accounting for 34.2 percent of total investment in the sector.
Pharmaceutical manufacturing comprises about two-thirds of the foreign direct investment position in chemicals manufacturing.

Chart 12. Computers and Electronic Products Subindustries, 2014–2024. Stacked Area Chart.

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Investment in computers and electronic products manufacturing grew from $47.5 billion in 2014 to $210.2 billion in 2024.
Computers and electronic products manufacturing has four major subindustries: (1) semiconductors and other electronic components; (2) navigational, measuring, and other instruments; (3) communications equipment; and (4) computers and peripheral equipment.
Semiconductors and other electronic components was the largest contributor to the sector, increasing from 22.2 percent in 2014 to 40.2 percent in 2024.

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. multinational enterprise (U.S. MNE) is composed of the U.S. parent and its foreign affiliates.
A foreign multinational is composed of the foreign parent and its U.S. affiliates.
A foreign affiliate is a foreign business enterprise that is at least 10 percent owned by a single U.S. person or entity.
A U.S. parent is a U.S. person or entity that owns 10 percent or more of a foreign business enterprise.
A U.S. affiliate is a U.S. business enterprise that is at least 10 percent owned by a single foreign person or entity.
A foreign parent is the first person or entity outside the United States in a U.S. affiliate's ownership chain that has a direct investment interest in the affiliate.
The ultimate beneficial owner (UBO) is the person or entity, proceeding up a U.S. affiliate's chain of majority ownership (where the entity above owns more than 50 percent of the entity below), beginning with the foreign parent, that is not owned more than 50 percent by another entity. The UBO ultimately owns or controls, and thus ultimately derives the benefits and assumes the risks from owning or controlling, an affiliate. The country of the UBO is often the same as that of the foreign parent, but it may be a different country or the United States.
The direct investment position is the value of direct investors' equity in, and net outstanding loans to, their affiliates. Changes in the position result from financial transactions and other changes, including capital gains and losses, currency-translation adjustments, and other changes in volume and valuation, such as adjustments to book value from affiliates' current sale or purchase price.
Income includes income on equity—whether profits or losses and whether distributed or reinvested—and net interest on debt.

Statistical Conventions

BEA's direct investment statistics are primarily based on data reported in the Quarterly Survey of U.S. Direct Investment Abroad (BE–577) and the Quarterly Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States (BE–605). Both surveys are conducted by BEA.
The countries identified in this release reflect the location of the immediate counterpart, unless otherwise noted. The countries identified for the U.S. direct investment abroad position may not reflect the ultimate destination of the funds. Likewise, the countries identified for the foreign direct investment position in United States may not reflect the ultimate source of the funds, which is often the UBO.
The direct investment positions in this release are valued at historical cost. Positions reflect the book value of direct investors' equity in, and net outstanding loans to, their affiliates. This valuation is derived principally from the accounting records of affiliates, which are primarily compiled under U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or International Financial Reporting Standards. This differs from the market value measure featured in the U.S. net International Investment Position (IIP) Accounts.
This article presents statistics on a directional basis rather than on the asset/liability basis featured in the U.S. International Transactions Accounts and the U.S. net IIP Accounts. On a directional basis, direct investment claims and liabilities are classified according to whether the direct investor is a U.S. resident or a foreign resident. U.S. direct investment abroad occurs between a U.S. parent and its foreign affiliates. Foreign direct investment in the United States occurs between a foreign parent and its U.S. affiliates. On an asset/liability basis, direct investment statistics are organized according to whether the investment relates to an asset or liability for U.S. parents or for U.S. affiliates of foreign parents.

Direct Investment by Country and Industry for 2024

U.S. Direct Investment Abroad

Foreign Direct Investment in the United States