Foreign Direct Investment, Net

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Net is the net value of cross-border investments in which a resident entity in one country acquires a lasting interest — typically 10% or more of voting power — in a business in another country. It combines inflows (foreign investment into the country) and outflows (investment by residents abroad), reflecting long-term international business relationships, and is recorded in the financial account of the balance of payments. This Latin Macro Watch indicator from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) supports researchers, investors and policymakers tracking capital flows in Latin America and the Caribbean. The precise definition and coverage may vary across countries.

Coverage

The indicator covers 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean at annual, monthly and quarterly frequency, spanning 1991–2026. Values are available in millions of USD, as a share of GDP and on a year-to-date (YTD) basis. Transformations include 3-, 6- and 12-month moving averages (MA3, MA6, MA12) and month-over-month, quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year percentage changes (MoM %, QoQ %, YoY %).

Sources

Data are compiled from national central banks and statistical agencies, including the Banco Central do Brasil, the Banco de Mexico (Banxico), the Banco de la República de Colombia, the Banco Central de Chile and INDEC - Argentina, then standardized by the IDB for cross-country comparison within the Latin Macro Watch database.

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Format	CSV
Language	en
Country	Argentina Bahamas Trinidad & Tobago Belize Costa Rica Dominican Republic Ecuador Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia El Salvador Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Panama Uruguay Venezuela Barbados Paraguay Peru Suriname
Data notes	What does Foreign Direct Investment, Net measure? It measures the net value of cross-border investments where a resident entity acquires a lasting interest — typically 10% or more of voting power — in a business abroad, combining inflows and outflows and recorded in the financial account of the balance of payments. Definitions may vary across countries. How many countries and which frequencies and period are covered? The indicator covers 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean at annual, monthly and quarterly frequency, spanning 1991 to 2026. What units and transformations are available? Values are available in millions of USD, as a percentage of GDP and on a year-to-date (YTD) basis. Transformations include MA3, MA6 and MA12 moving averages and MoM %, QoQ % and YoY % changes. Where does the data come from? Data are sourced from national central banks and statistical agencies such as the Banco Central do Brasil, the Banco de Mexico (Banxico), the Banco de la República de Colombia, the Banco Central de Chile and INDEC - Argentina, then standardized by the IDB. What is this indicator typically used for? It is used to assess net capital flows, external financing, investment attractiveness and balance-of-payments dynamics across Latin America and the Caribbean, complementing the FDI credits and debits series. How do I cite this indicator? Cite it as: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Latin Macro Watch — "Foreign Direct Investment, Net". data.iadb.org/dataset/latin-macro-watch-dataset.