Investment

We help countries attract foreign direct investment into areas where needs are greatest, to ensure prosperity for all.

Investment Policy Reviews

Investment statistics and trends

International Investment Agreements (IIAs)

Investment Facilitation and Promotion

News

La inversión extranjera en América Latina se desplomó en un 45% en 2020

La región sufrió la caída más pronunciada de flujos de inversión extranjera directa entre los países en desarrollo.

21 Jun 2021

Investment flows to developing Asia defy COVID-19, grow by 4%

Developing Asia is the only region that recorded growth in foreign investment in 2020, accounting for more than half of global inward and outward flows.

21 Jun 2021

Two oil workers in green and orange work wear and suede gloves with rusted drilling pipe at an oil deposit in Kazakhstan.

COVID-19 hits foreign investment in transition economies harder than other regions

Despite recovery efforts, a return to pre-pandemic levels of inward foreign direct investment is unlikely in the coming years.

21 Jun 2021

Foreign investment flows to developed countries slump by 58% in 2020

Prospects for 2021 are positive, with expected growth of up to 20%, mainly due to strong cross-border mergers and acquisitions.

21 Jun 2021

World Investment Report

The Report focuses on trends in foreign direct investment (FDI) worldwide, at the regional and country levels and emerging measures to improve its contribution to development.

It also provides analysis on global value chains and the operations of multinational enterprises, with special attention to their development implications.

Overviews of the report are also available in all official UN languages.

Transnational Corporations Journal

Transnational Corporations is a longstanding policy-oriented refereed research journal on issues related to investment, multinational enterprises and development.

It is an official journal of the United Nations, managed by UNCTAD.

As such it has a global reach, a strong development policy imprint, and high potential for impact beyond the scholarly community.

Report on G20 investment measures

The leaders of the G20, which comprises the world’s largest economies, are firmly committed to open trade and investment and to resisting protectionism in all its forms.

They have mandated WTO, OECD and UNCTAD – the leading international organisations in the area of international trade and investment policies – to monitor policy developments and report publicly on these commitments.