The Top 10 Sectors for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

What We’re Showing

This chart breaks down the top 10 sectors attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2024, based on total project capital investment tracked globally. The data comes from the fDi Report 2025 by the Financial Times.

Key Takeaways

• Renewable energy led the way in 2024, attracting $270B in FDI, more than the next two sectors combined. This underscores the global push toward sustainability and clean energy transitions
• Communications ($166B) and semiconductors ($120B) also saw large FDI inflows, driven by demand for faster networks and secure chip supply chains
• The coal, oil, and gas sector still drew in $89B, just behind real estate at $92B
• Tech-heavy sectors like software & IT services ($48B) and electronic components ($49B) also made the top 10
• In total, these 10 sectors accounted for more than $1 trillion in FDI capital investment globally in 2024