2013 marked a recovery in global foreign direct investment flows: global incoming FDI grew by 9% y/y, by $1,45 trillion, bringing the stock to $25,5 trillion. The growth is mainly due to an increase in mergers and acquisitions.
The increase in inflows concerned all the main areas of the planet: in developed countries the increase was 9% (to 566 billion dollars). Inflows to developing countries reached a peak of $778 billion, thus covering 54% of global inflows. In Europe, the growth of incoming FDI is due to the recovery of Germany, Italy and above all Spain which, thanks to the reduction in labor costs recorded in the aftermath of the crisis and the reform of the labor market, has attracted the interest of some multinationals active above all in manufacturing.
Unctad's forecasts for the next two years are positive: FDI flows are in fact expected to grow both for 2014 (to 1,62 trillion dollars) and for the following two years. Contrary to what happened in past years, starting from 2014 the main thrust should come from developed countries. In 2013, the recovery in global FDI mainly concerned the energy sector where the value of greenfield projects and M&As grew by 14% y/y and 32% y/y respectively.
Interest in the sector is aroused by the potential of the shale gas market, especially in the United States. The investments come above all from the emerging rich in shale gas (such as China) who in this way seek to acquire the necessary know-how to start exploiting this resource in their country. In Italy in 2013 the incoming FDI flow made a significant leap forward: 16,5 billion dollars after a 2012 in which it had not gone beyond 93 million.
At stock level, the incoming values thus reach 403,7 billion dollars, equal to 19,5% of GDP against the average of around 49% for EU countries. Our country attracts a still rather small slice of the world stock of FDI: 1,6%, a value which compares with 2,8% in Spain, 3,3% in Germany and 4,2% in France.
