The total amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Ireland last year fell to just under €121 billion from €138 billion a year earlier, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The CSO attributed the decline to a sharp rise in the amount of loans from foreign-owned subsidiaries to their parent companies overseas.
During 2008 the amount of Irish direct investment in other countries increased from just under €102 billion to €123,3 billion with almost a quarter of that investment going to European firms.
The services sector accounted for 85pc of the stock of direct investment overseas last year. In addition, just over 60pc of the direct investment stock in Ireland was accounted for by the services sector.
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Reuters
