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Foreign direct investment in Russia up by more than 60% in 2016

1 February 2017

Foreign direct investment in the Russian economy increased by 62% to USD 19 billion in 2016, even as global flows of foreign direct investment fell by 13% to an estimated USD 1.52 trillion, according to the latest UNCTAD Global Investment Trends Monitor released in Geneva.

“FDI flows to transition economies rose by 38% to an estimated USD 52 billion. This largely reflected a doubling of inflows into Kazakhstan (from USD 4 billion to USD 8.1 billion), as well as a 62% increase in flows into the Russian Federation (from USD 12 billion to an estimated USD 19 billion)”, the report said.

In Kazakhstan, rising FDI flows were associated with a strong increase in mining exploration activities. In the Russian Federation, the increase is principally attributed to investments associated with privatisation of state-owned assets after the government sold a 19.5% stake in the state-owned oil company Rosneft.

Global flows of foreign direct investment fell by 13% in 2016 to an estimated USD 1.52 trillion as global economic growth remained weak, UNCTAD said. This decline was not equally shared across regions. FDI flows to Europe fell by 22%, to Latin America and the Caribbean by 19%, and to Africa by 5%. The United States remained the biggest recipient of FDI, attracting an estimated USD 385 billion in inflows, followed by the United Kingdom, with flows of USD 179 billion, while China remained in third position with an inflow of USD 139 billion.

UNCTAD projects that global FDI flows will increase by around 10% in 2017 as global economic growth is projected to accelerate to 3.4%.

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