Countries Included: All world countries, economic regions, geographical regions
Years Covered: From 1993 to 2008
Indicators: Over 50 indicators from our database of 1,000 are currently display by Econ Stats
Data Sources: IMF, World Bank, UN, OECD, CIA World Factbook, Internet World Statistics, The Heritage Foundation and Transparency International
Last Updated: 1st August 2011
Poorer countries tend to need Foreign Direct Investment or FDI to develop their economies. FDI is often (but not always) accompanied by technical expertise. Richer countries tend to build up pools of financial reserves which look for higher growth opportunities in developing markets. FDI statistics therefore tend to show more inbound FDI to poorer countries with good growth potential, and more outbound FDI from richer countries that have lower growth prospects.