Foreign direct investment in the State increased 10% last year, says CSO

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the State increased by €109 billion or 9.9 per cent to €1,208 billion last year, while Irish investment abroad increased by €296 billion or almost 30 per cent to €1,288 billion, new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.

Equity and reinvested earnings inflows of €123 billion were offset by decreases in other capital investment of €14 billion, its annual FDI report found.

The increase in FDI last year was largely the result of a €179 billion rise in investment from the US, which was offset by a drop of €46 billion from Europe and a €79 billion decrease from offshore centres.

“This increase in investment is seen almost entirely in the services sector, predominantly in financial intermediation,” said Faris Bader, statistician in the CSO’s international accounts division.

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Services accounted for €736 billion or 61 per cent of total inward investment last year, up €115 billion on the position at the end of 2020. The investment position in financial intermediation rose from €225 billion to €317 billion in the year.

Inward investment in the manufacturing sector decreased €6 billion to a stock position of €470 billion in the same period.

The increase in Irish foreign direct investment abroad, meanwhile, included an €181 billion rise in investment in Europe and a €77 billion uplift in investment in the US. The increase was again almost entirely seen in the services sector.

In 2021, the stock of investment from the US as ultimate investor at €913 billion was €490 billion greater than the stock of US investment presented by immediate owner, which stood at €423 billion.

The CSO said this difference indicates that while a great deal of investment into Ireland comes directly from our European counterparts, the investment actually originates from enterprises located in the US.

Ireland had net foreign assets of €80 billion at the end of 2021, an increase of €187 billion on the net foreign liability of €107 billion at the end 2020.