Ranked: Top Countries for Foreign Direct Investment Flows

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Ranked: Top Countries for Foreign Direct Investment Flows

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One of the most significant phenomena in 21st-century globalization, driven by the ascent of multinational corporations and the removal of investing barriers, is the vast cross-border flow of foreign capital.

To analyze recent trends, Samidha Nayak utilized World Bank data spanning 2012–2022, charting the top 10 destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) and the leading investing countries annually.

A chart showing the top foreign direct investment flows (inflows) between 2012–2022.

Countries With the Most FDI Inflows (2012–2022)

In 2012, the United States had the highest FDI inflow, attracting about $250 billion in investment from the rest of the world.

ℹ️ Foreign direct investment is when a resident in one economy has 10 percent or more of the ordinary shares of voting stock of a resident enterprise in a different economy.

At second place, China’s FDI inflows stood about $9 billion lower at $241 billion.

The middle ranks have representatives from Europe (Netherlands, Cyprus), from Asia (Hong Kong) and from South America (Brazil).

Towards the bottom, three OECD countries—Germany, Ireland, and Australia—all attracted an average of $60 billion in foreign investment.

Unexpectedly, the British Virgin Islands came in 8th. Their lack of corporate tax makes it a popular place for companies to headquarter, in turn attracting FDI inflows.

2012Country2012 Inflows
(USD Billion)
2022Country2022 Inflows
(USD Billion)
1🇺🇸 U.S.$250.351🇺🇸 U.S.$388.08
2🇨🇳 China$241.212🇨🇳 China$180.17
3🇳🇱 Netherlands$239.673🇸🇬 Singapore$140.84
4🇧🇷 Brazil$92.574🇭🇰 Hong Kong$120.95
5🇭🇰 Hong Kong$74.895🇫🇷 France$105.42
6🇨🇾 Cyprus$69.976🇧🇷 Brazil$91.50
7🇩🇪 Germany$65.447🇦🇺 Australia$67.12
8🇻🇬 British Virgin Islands$61.128🇨🇦 Canada$53.71
9🇮🇪 Ireland$58.099🇸🇪 Sweden$50.05
10🇦🇺 Australia$57.5510🇮🇳 India$49.94

Ten years later however, the top 10 saw a shuffle. The U.S. and China retained their top spots, but the difference grew much larger—with the U.S. attracting nearly 50% more foreign investment ($388 billion) than China ($180 billion).

Singapore, which first appeared in the rankings in 2014, took third place with $141 billion.

Meanwhile the bottom half changed almost entirely with France, Canada, Sweden, and India replacing Cyprus, Germany, the British Virgin Islands, and Ireland.

Countries With the Most FDI Outflows (2012–2022)

Unlike the ranks of net inflows, the top 10 countries with the highest FDI outflows have stayed essentially the same.

A chart showing the top foreign direct investment flows (outflows) between 2012–2022.

The U.S. topped the list in both ends of the decade, despite briefly falling out of the top 10 entirely in 2018. There were only three new entrants (France, Australia, and the UK) in 2022 compared to 10 years prior, with Cyprus, Switzerland, and the British Virgin Islands dropping out of top spots.

2012Country2012 Outflows
(USD Billion)
2022Country2022 Outflows
(USD Billion)
1🇺🇸 U.S.$377.241🇺🇸 U.S.$426.25
2🇳🇱 Netherlands$237.942🇩🇪 Germany$178.87
3🇯🇵 Japan$117.633🇯🇵 Japan$175.40
4🇩🇪 Germany$99.084🇬🇧 UK$158.93
5🇭🇰 Hong Kong$88.125🇨🇳 China$149.69
6🇨🇾 Cyprus$75.256🇳🇱 Netherlands$125.89
7🇨🇳 China$64.967🇦🇺 Australia$123.36
8🇨🇦 Canada$62.258🇫🇷 France$118.76
9🇨🇭Switzerland$54.309🇭🇰 Hong Kong$106.86
10🇻🇬 British Virgin Islands$53.9410🇨🇦 Canada$83.11

Many of the countries who are in the top ranks for inflows (U.S., China, Canada, Australia) are also in the top ranks for outflows both in 2012 and 2022.

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Money

Mapped: Financial Literacy Levels in All 50 U.S. States

Which Americans are the best at managing their money? This financial literacy audit reveals the best and worst.

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Mapped: Financial Literacy Levels in All 50 States

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Key Takeaways

  • Minnesota is the most financially literate state, scoring 73/100 according to WalletHub’s latest analysis.
  • Arkansas scores the worst, with 53/100.

How well are Americans managing their money, and how does it vary between the states?

This financial literacy map attempts to answer both questions using 2025 data from WalletHub, a personal finance services company.

They ranked and scored states on three main benchmarks: financial education, financial planning (or consumer habits), and how Wallethub’s own users performed on their financial literacy survey.

ℹ️ These benchmarks are further subdivided into 17 metrics (credit score, savings, personal finance courses, etc.) and are weighted differently. Please read the source’s methodology section for a full breakdown.

The Most Financially Savvy U.S. State

This graphic ranks and scores all 50 U.S. states on financial literacy using 2025 data from WalletHub.

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

Minnesota is the most financially literate U.S. state with 73 points, according to WalletHub’s latest analysis.

Here’s some sub indicators where Minnesota outperformed the rest of the country.

  • High-schoolers must take at least one personal finance program.
  • Only 15% of the surveyed Minnesotans spent more than they made—the lowest across all states.
  • Highest median credit score in the country (751).

And here’s how each state scores out of 100. Figures are rounded.

RankStateState CodeTotal Score
(Out of 100)
1MinnesotaMN73
2ColoradoCO69
3NebraskaNE69
4VirginiaVA69
5WisconsinWI68
6New HampshireNH68
7IowaIA67
8WashingtonWA67
9VermontVT67
10New JerseyNJ67
11MarylandMD67
12FloridaFL66
13UtahUT66
14PennsylvaniaPA65
15MaineME65
16MichiganMI65
17OregonOR65
18North CarolinaNC65
19OhioOH65
20IndianaIN65
21MissouriMO65
22ArizonaAZ64
23MassachusettsMA64
24KansasKS64
25ConnecticutCT64
26DelawareDE64
27North DakotaND64
28West VirginiaWV63
29TexasTX63
30IdahoID63
31Rhode IslandRI63
32IllinoisIL62
33GeorgiaGA62
34WyomingWY62
35New YorkNY61
36NevadaNV61
37South CarolinaSC61
38MontanaMT60
39New MexicoNM60
40AlabamaAL60
41HawaiiHI60
42District of ColumbiaDC58
43CaliforniaCA58
44AlaskaAK58
45LouisianaLA58
46MississippiMS58
47TennesseeTN58
48KentuckyKY57
49South DakotaSD56
50OklahomaOK54
51ArkansasAR53

Meanwhile, Arkansas tested the worst, with 53 points. Its score is impacted by having the second-worst performance on WalletHub’s financial literacy survey.

And here’s each state’s rank within the three main benchmarks.

RankStateWalletLiteracy Rank
(50% Weight)
Financial Planning
Rank (25% Weight)
Financial Knowledge
Rank (25% Weight)
1Minnesota723
2Colorado8120
3Nebraska9256
4Virginia3191
5Wisconsin14614
6New Hampshire4823
7Iowa102715
8Washington12330
9Vermont52026
10New Jersey152912
11Maryland131122
12Florida37169
13Utah47102
14Pennsylvania262317
15Maine12840
16Michigan222219
17Oregon46214
18North Carolina35378
19Ohio29437
20Indiana334010
21Missouri40395
22Arizona183325
23Massachusetts20739
24Kansas113535
25Connecticut50511
26Delaware281529
27North Dakota231337
28West Virginia254713
29Texas413816
30Idaho391928
31Rhode Island321834
32Illinois273233
33Georgia344421
34Wyoming33043
35New York241742
36Nevada453124
37South Carolina303441
38Montana23647
39New Mexico214836
40Alabama444227
41Hawaii191248
42District of Columbia172449
43California42446
44Alaska61451
45Louisiana434932
46Mississippi365131
47Tennessee494138
48Kentucky514518
49South Dakota162650
50Oklahoma385045
51Arkansas484644

There’s some further insights to explain some noticeable geographic trends.

  • Colorado and Nebraska also require personal finance education in high school.
  • Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Arkansas have the lowest share of adults with emergency cash.
  • A higher share of Southern state residents borrow from non-bank lenders, affecting their financial planning score.

The Overlooked Part of Financial Literacy: Managing Debt

While investing in the markets is all the rage—particularly with the rise of no-fee platforms—WalletHub’s benchmarks prioritize an often overlooked part of money management: debt.

America’s credit card debt collectively crossed $1 trillion in 2023, and it’s only been growing since.

On average, American households have about $5,000 in outstanding credit card balances, which can take anywhere between one to two years to pay off depending on monthly incomes.

Of course, managing expenditures to avoid or reduce debt has been particularly difficult in the multiple years of post-pandemic inflation.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

Need more money management insights about the United States? Check out: America’s Average Bank Account Balance, by State for a quick overview.

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