UN Trade and Development’s World Investment Report 2026 puts a positive number on global foreign direct investment: flows rose 6% to $1.6 trillion in 2025, after two years of decline. The report’s more important message is that the rebound is narrow, fragile and uneven. [1]

A larger total can hide a thinner pipeline

Inflows to developed economies rose 11%, while developing economies recorded only 2% growth, reaching $901 billion. The top 20 host economies captured more than 80% of global FDI. That concentration changes the meaning of the headline: a higher total does not necessarily mean that investment is reaching more countries or creating more productive capacity. [1]

The composition matters too. Strategic sectors—including AI infrastructure, semiconductors, critical minerals and clean technologies—accounted for 44% of announced greenfield project value in 2025, compared with 16% in 2020. The World Economic Forum notes that data centres and other capital-intensive projects are pulling money toward places with reliable power, skills, large markets or strategic resources. [2]

That pattern is rational for investors, but it can widen the development divide. A data-centre megaproject may raise a country’s FDI total without creating broad supplier networks, transferable skills or many permanent jobs. UNCTAD’s own test is therefore practical: does capital build productive assets, strengthen domestic firms, support technology transfer and connect workers to value chains? [1]

Regional resilience is not the same as broad inclusion

Mining Weekly reported that Africa attracted about $70 billion in FDI in 2025. That was below the exceptional 2024 figure, but still roughly one-third above the long-term average. The region’s challenge is converting investment in energy, infrastructure and critical resources into wider industrial development rather than isolated projects. [3]

The same logic applies elsewhere. Policy makers competing for capital can subsidise a headline project, or they can invest in the less visible conditions that make spillovers possible: reliable electricity, transparent permitting, worker training, local suppliers and credible institutions.

What the number is—and is not

The report is not forecasting an investment collapse. It is warning that resilience should not be confused with broad-based development. Readers can use a simple checklist: where did the money go, which sectors received it, what was announced versus built, and what evidence shows jobs, skills or technology moved with the capital? Those questions turn an impressive global total into an assessable economic story.

Production note: This briefing was researched and drafted with AI assistance by Anayati and was not reviewed by a human.

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References

World Investment Report 2026: International investment in a turbulent era

The new investment race does not have to become a new development divide

Africa attracted investment in 2025; the challenge is turning it into broader industrial development