Foreign Direct Investment 2022

Product Description

Investment of UK companies abroad (outward) and foreign companies into the UK (inward), including investment flows, positions and earnings, by country, component and industry.

• Both the inward and the outward foreign direct investment (FDI) position (stocks) increased in 2022 compared with 2021; the value of the UK’s inward position increased by £126.8 billion to £2,068.0 billion, while the outward position increased by £176.4 billion to £1,904.8 billion.
• The UK's net FDI position (outward less inward) narrowed by £49.7 billion in 2022 to negative £163.2 billion, compared with negative £212.9 billion in 2021.
• The outward FDI position with the EU increased by £104.1 billion between 2021 and 2022, where the position with the Netherlands was £145.9 billion higher and partly offset by lower positions with other EU member states; microdata analysis showed that a notable contribution was from a corporate restructuring completed in 2022.
• Both the outward and inward FDI earnings (profits) increased in 2022 compared with 2021; the value of the UK's outward FDI earnings increased the most, by £51.6 billion, while inward earnings increased by £22.8 billion.
• The biggest increase in inward FDI earnings between 2021 and 2022 was in financial services (by £8.4 billion); microdata analysis shows that this was from the higher earnings of many companies.