Foreign investment statistics
Statistics on where Australia invests
Australian businesses invest huge amounts of money in other economies. At the end of 2019, the total amount of Australian money invested overseas was around $3.0 trillion.
Where does Australia invest?
The United States and the United Kingdom remain the two largest economies for Australian investment. At the end of 2019, Australian investments in the US totalled $837 billion and our investment in the UK was $507 billion.
Australian investment in Asia has increased dramatically over the past decade. Between 2009 and 2019, our investments to major Asian economies (China, Hong Kong (SAR of China), India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Taiwan and all ASEAN members) has increased from $120 billion to $472 billion.
The table below shows the top 17 economies where Australia invests (as at the end of 2019). Totals are in A$ billion and include both direct, portfolio investment and other investment.
Rank in 2019 | Economy | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | % of total | % change 2018 to 2019 | 5-year trend % growth |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | United States | 683.4 | 729.0 | 837.4 | 28.4 | 14.9 | 5.7 |
2 | United Kingdom | 347.9 | 406.3 | 507.4 | 17.2 | 24.9 | 7.8 |
3 | Japan | 125.0 | 113.3 | 139.6 | 4.7 | 23.1 | 12.0 |
4 | New Zealand | 103.7 | 96.5 | 130.5 | 4.4 | 35.2 | 5.3 |
5 | Germany | 74.1 | 73.4 | 97.1 | 3.3 | 32.2 | 6.9 |
6 | China | 77.3 | 79.1 | 85.3 | 2.9 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
7 | Singapore | 59.9 | 73.0 | 84.1 | 2.8 | 15.1 | 10.6 |
8 | Canada | 49.9 | 79.8 | 83.4 | 2.8 | 4.6 | 16.7 |
9 | Cayman Islands | 65.6 | 79.5 | 82.4 | 2.8 | 3.7 | 16.3 |
10 | Hong Kong (SAR of China) | 49.3 | 52.7 | 63.4 | 2.1 | 20.4 | 5.2 |
11 | France | 50.1 | 54.2 | 52.4 | 1.8 | -3.4 | 3.3 |
12 | Netherlands | 43.4 | 45.8 | 44.4 | 1.5 | -3.1 | 3.4 |
13 | Bermuda | 41.7 | 37.9 | 38.7 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 1.1 |
14 | Switzerland | 36.1 | 26.5 | 33.7 | 1.1 | 27.4 | 7.6 |
15 | Republic of Korea | 20.0 | 21.5 | 22.7 | 0.8 | 5.5 | 9.1 |
16 | Ireland | 16.9 | 15.5 | 21.5 | 0.7 | 38.2 | 14.4 |
17 | India | 13.9 | 15.6 | 19.9 | 0.7 | 27.8 | 15.3 |
All economies | 2,369.4 | 2,547.7 | 2,953.1 | 100.0 | 15.9 | 7.5 | |
Based on ABS catalogue 5352.0. Last Updated: May 2020. |
How does this compare with other economies?
Australia is the 16th-largest international direct investor the world.
The table below shows how our level of direct outward investment compared with other economies in 2019. Yearly values are in US$ billion.
Rank in 2019 | Economy | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | % of total | % change 2018 to 2019 | 5-year trend % growth |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | United States | 7,828.7 | 6,452.7 | 7,721.7 | 22.3 | 19.7 | 4.1 |
2 | Netherlands | 2,531.1 | 2,380.6 | 2,565.3 | 7.4 | 7.8 | 5.0 |
3 | China | 1,809.0 | 1,982.3 | 2,099.4 | 6.1 | 5.9 | 20.0 |
4 | United Kingdom | 1,773.6 | 1,788.2 | 1,949.4 | 5.6 | 9.0 | 3.4 |
5 | Japan | 1,497.5 | 1,567.2 | 1,818.1 | 5.3 | 16.0 | 9.4 |
6 | Hong Kong (SAR of China) | 1,813.3 | 1,829.4 | 1,794.0 | 5.2 | -1.9 | 5.1 |
7 | Germany | 1,650.3 | 1,651.5 | 1,719.4 | 5.0 | 4.1 | 5.2 |
8 | Canada | 1,532.2 | 1,366.2 | 1,652.5 | 4.8 | 21.0 | 7.1 |
9 | France | 1,440.4 | 1,499.2 | 1,532.8 | 4.4 | 2.2 | 4.3 |
10 | Switzerland | 1,438.5 | 1,494.7 | 1,526.2 | 4.4 | 2.1 | 7.9 |
11 | Singapore | 1,002.3 | 1,025.8 | 1,106.2 | 3.2 | 7.8 | 10.8 |
12 | Ireland | 986.8 | 942.9 | 1,085.2 | 3.1 | 15.1 | 9.1 |
13 | British Virgin Islands | 830.8 | 870.2 | 911.3 | 2.6 | 4.7 | 6.0 |
14 | Belgium | 721.9 | 593.3 | 656.4 | 1.9 | 10.6 | 2.2 |
15 | Spain | 604.7 | 583.0 | 606.5 | 1.8 | 4.0 | 3.6 |
16 | Australia | 503.2 | 497.0 | 579.3 | 1.7 | 16.5 | 5.1 |
17 | Italy | 547.6 | 552.7 | 558.4 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 4.5 |
18 | Cyprus | 452.3 | 436.9 | 442.8 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 2.7 |
19 | Republic of Korea | 360.6 | 405.2 | 440.1 | 1.3 | 8.6 | 11.5 |
20 | Sweden | 384.6 | 383.2 | 396.5 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 0.6 |
All economies | 33,040.5 | 31,507.5 | 34,571.1 | 100.0 | 9.7 | 3.7 |
Source: UNCTADstat database. Last Updated: October 2020.
Related links
- Statistics on who invests in Australia
- Australian industries and foreign investment
- Request customised statistics
- Australia's investment policy
Contacts
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