Money
Ranked: Top Countries for Foreign Direct Investment Flows
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.
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.
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.
2012 | Country | 2012 Inflows (USD Billion) | 2022 | Country | 2022 Inflows (USD Billion) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 🇺🇸 U.S. | $250.35 | 1 | 🇺🇸 U.S. | $388.08 |
2 | 🇨🇳 China | $241.21 | 2 | 🇨🇳 China | $180.17 |
3 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | $239.67 | 3 | 🇸🇬 Singapore | $140.84 |
4 | 🇧🇷 Brazil | $92.57 | 4 | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | $120.95 |
5 | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | $74.89 | 5 | 🇫🇷 France | $105.42 |
6 | 🇨🇾 Cyprus | $69.97 | 6 | 🇧🇷 Brazil | $91.50 |
7 | 🇩🇪 Germany | $65.44 | 7 | 🇦🇺 Australia | $67.12 |
8 | 🇻🇬 British Virgin Islands | $61.12 | 8 | 🇨🇦 Canada | $53.71 |
9 | 🇮🇪 Ireland | $58.09 | 9 | 🇸🇪 Sweden | $50.05 |
10 | 🇦🇺 Australia | $57.55 | 10 | 🇮🇳 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.
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.
2012 | Country | 2012 Outflows (USD Billion) | 2022 | Country | 2022 Outflows (USD Billion) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 🇺🇸 U.S. | $377.24 | 1 | 🇺🇸 U.S. | $426.25 |
2 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | $237.94 | 2 | 🇩🇪 Germany | $178.87 |
3 | 🇯🇵 Japan | $117.63 | 3 | 🇯🇵 Japan | $175.40 |
4 | 🇩🇪 Germany | $99.08 | 4 | 🇬🇧 UK | $158.93 |
5 | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | $88.12 | 5 | 🇨🇳 China | $149.69 |
6 | 🇨🇾 Cyprus | $75.25 | 6 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | $125.89 |
7 | 🇨🇳 China | $64.96 | 7 | 🇦🇺 Australia | $123.36 |
8 | 🇨🇦 Canada | $62.25 | 8 | 🇫🇷 France | $118.76 |
9 | 🇨🇭Switzerland | $54.30 | 9 | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | $106.86 |
10 | 🇻🇬 British Virgin Islands | $53.94 | 10 | 🇨🇦 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.

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.
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.

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.
The Most Financially Savvy U.S. State
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.
Rank | State | State Code | Total Score (Out of 100) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Minnesota | MN | 73 |
2 | Colorado | CO | 69 |
3 | Nebraska | NE | 69 |
4 | Virginia | VA | 69 |
5 | Wisconsin | WI | 68 |
6 | New Hampshire | NH | 68 |
7 | Iowa | IA | 67 |
8 | Washington | WA | 67 |
9 | Vermont | VT | 67 |
10 | New Jersey | NJ | 67 |
11 | Maryland | MD | 67 |
12 | Florida | FL | 66 |
13 | Utah | UT | 66 |
14 | Pennsylvania | PA | 65 |
15 | Maine | ME | 65 |
16 | Michigan | MI | 65 |
17 | Oregon | OR | 65 |
18 | North Carolina | NC | 65 |
19 | Ohio | OH | 65 |
20 | Indiana | IN | 65 |
21 | Missouri | MO | 65 |
22 | Arizona | AZ | 64 |
23 | Massachusetts | MA | 64 |
24 | Kansas | KS | 64 |
25 | Connecticut | CT | 64 |
26 | Delaware | DE | 64 |
27 | North Dakota | ND | 64 |
28 | West Virginia | WV | 63 |
29 | Texas | TX | 63 |
30 | Idaho | ID | 63 |
31 | Rhode Island | RI | 63 |
32 | Illinois | IL | 62 |
33 | Georgia | GA | 62 |
34 | Wyoming | WY | 62 |
35 | New York | NY | 61 |
36 | Nevada | NV | 61 |
37 | South Carolina | SC | 61 |
38 | Montana | MT | 60 |
39 | New Mexico | NM | 60 |
40 | Alabama | AL | 60 |
41 | Hawaii | HI | 60 |
42 | District of Columbia | DC | 58 |
43 | California | CA | 58 |
44 | Alaska | AK | 58 |
45 | Louisiana | LA | 58 |
46 | Mississippi | MS | 58 |
47 | Tennessee | TN | 58 |
48 | Kentucky | KY | 57 |
49 | South Dakota | SD | 56 |
50 | Oklahoma | OK | 54 |
51 | Arkansas | AR | 53 |
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.
Rank | State | WalletLiteracy Rank (50% Weight) | Financial Planning Rank (25% Weight) | Financial Knowledge Rank (25% Weight) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Minnesota | 7 | 2 | 3 |
2 | Colorado | 8 | 1 | 20 |
3 | Nebraska | 9 | 25 | 6 |
4 | Virginia | 31 | 9 | 1 |
5 | Wisconsin | 14 | 6 | 14 |
6 | New Hampshire | 4 | 8 | 23 |
7 | Iowa | 10 | 27 | 15 |
8 | Washington | 12 | 3 | 30 |
9 | Vermont | 5 | 20 | 26 |
10 | New Jersey | 15 | 29 | 12 |
11 | Maryland | 13 | 11 | 22 |
12 | Florida | 37 | 16 | 9 |
13 | Utah | 47 | 10 | 2 |
14 | Pennsylvania | 26 | 23 | 17 |
15 | Maine | 1 | 28 | 40 |
16 | Michigan | 22 | 22 | 19 |
17 | Oregon | 46 | 21 | 4 |
18 | North Carolina | 35 | 37 | 8 |
19 | Ohio | 29 | 43 | 7 |
20 | Indiana | 33 | 40 | 10 |
21 | Missouri | 40 | 39 | 5 |
22 | Arizona | 18 | 33 | 25 |
23 | Massachusetts | 20 | 7 | 39 |
24 | Kansas | 11 | 35 | 35 |
25 | Connecticut | 50 | 5 | 11 |
26 | Delaware | 28 | 15 | 29 |
27 | North Dakota | 23 | 13 | 37 |
28 | West Virginia | 25 | 47 | 13 |
29 | Texas | 41 | 38 | 16 |
30 | Idaho | 39 | 19 | 28 |
31 | Rhode Island | 32 | 18 | 34 |
32 | Illinois | 27 | 32 | 33 |
33 | Georgia | 34 | 44 | 21 |
34 | Wyoming | 3 | 30 | 43 |
35 | New York | 24 | 17 | 42 |
36 | Nevada | 45 | 31 | 24 |
37 | South Carolina | 30 | 34 | 41 |
38 | Montana | 2 | 36 | 47 |
39 | New Mexico | 21 | 48 | 36 |
40 | Alabama | 44 | 42 | 27 |
41 | Hawaii | 19 | 12 | 48 |
42 | District of Columbia | 17 | 24 | 49 |
43 | California | 42 | 4 | 46 |
44 | Alaska | 6 | 14 | 51 |
45 | Louisiana | 43 | 49 | 32 |
46 | Mississippi | 36 | 51 | 31 |
47 | Tennessee | 49 | 41 | 38 |
48 | Kentucky | 51 | 45 | 18 |
49 | South Dakota | 16 | 26 | 50 |
50 | Oklahoma | 38 | 50 | 45 |
51 | Arkansas | 48 | 46 | 44 |
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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