Brasília – As global spending recovered after the COVID-19 pandemic, Latin America and the Caribbean attracted record flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2022, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) reported on Monday (10). The region received USD 224.58 billion. Pictured, industrial plant in Mexico.
The volume represented a 55.2% increase from 2021. “FDI flows to the region had not surpassed USD 200 billion since 2013, so the 2022 recovery marks a major investment milestone for the past decade,” ECLAC stressed in the report.
Unlike financial investments, which are aimed at the financial market, foreign direct investments are aimed at job creation, such as buying domestic companies or expanding foreign companies to other countries. According to ECLAC, the sectors that benefited most in the last year were services, energy (renewable and non-renewable), and manufacturing.
Brazil attracted nearly 41% of FDI destined for Latin America and the Caribbean. In second place comes Mexico, with 17%. The two countries are the largest economies in the region. In Brazil, the volume of FDI almost doubled from 2021 to 2022, growing 97%. In Mexico, growth was lower and reached 14% compared to the previous year.
Low share
Despite the growth, Latin America attracted only 8% of global FDI in 2022, the lowest share when compared to Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, and North America.
Worldwide, FDI volume reached USD 1.29 trillion, a 11% increase compared to 2021 when stripping out the impact of divestments in Luxembourg, a global financial hub.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
