Foreign economies had a total of almost $5.0 trillion invested in Australia at the end of 2024.
Which economies invest in Australia?
The United States and United Kingdom are the biggest investors in Australia, followed by Belgium, Japan and Hong Kong (SAR of China).
China is our thirteenth largest foreign investor, with 1.5 per cent of the total.
The table below shows the top 20 foreign investors in Australia at the end of 2024. Yearly values are in A$ billion and represent total investment, which includes direct, portfolio and other types of investment.
Which economies invest in Australia?
| Rank in 2024 | Economy | 2022 (A$ billion) | 2023 (A$ billion) | 2024 (A$ billion) | % of total | % change 2023 to 2024 | 5-year trend % growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 1,094.5 | 1,152.1 | 1,355.5 | 27.3 | 17.7 | 6.2 |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 962.9 | 877.3 | 839.1 | 16.9 | -4.4 | 4.4 |
| 3 | Belgium (a) | 359.4 | 379.2 | 386.1 | 7.8 | 1.8 | 0.6 |
| 4 | Japan | 264.6 | 270.1 | 282.9 | 5.7 | 4.8 | 2.4 |
| 5 | Hong Kong (SAR of China) | 146.7 | 154.3 | 180.8 | 3.6 | 17.2 | 4.0 |
| 6 | Singapore | 149.7 | 142.4 | 144.8 | 2.9 | 1.7 | 7.8 |
| 7 | Luxembourg | 88.7 | 104.4 | 114.1 | 2.3 | 9.3 | 3.4 |
| 8 | Canada | 105.2 | 104.0 | 111.2 | 2.2 | 6.9 | 14.7 |
| 9 | Germany | 53.8 | 55.7 | 89.8 | 1.8 | 61.4 | 11.1 |
| 10 | Netherlands | 90.7 | 91.6 | 88.9 | 1.8 | -3.0 | 0.7 |
| 11 | Switzerland | 76.2 | 74.9 | 88.1 | 1.8 | 17.6 | 7.4 |
| 12 | New Zealand | 73.0 | 78.6 | 85.2 | 1.7 | 8.4 | 5.1 |
| 13 | China | 80.4 | 79.3 | 73.4 | 1.5 | -7.4 | -2.0 |
| 14 | France | 52.9 | 51.5 | 67.9 | 1.4 | 31.9 | 12.3 |
| 15 | Bermuda | 47.9 | 47.1 | 57.4 | 1.2 | 21.8 | 4.6 |
| 16 | Ireland | 39.6 | 43.7 | 51.3 | 1.0 | 17.6 | 9.3 |
| 17 | India | np | 47.3 | 50.6 | 1.0 | 7.1 | .. |
| 18 | Norway | 30.3 | 32.9 | 42.9 | 0.9 | 30.4 | 10.7 |
| 19 | Virgin Islands, British | 35.4 | 33.4 | 33.7 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 6.6 |
| 20 | Republic of Korea | 28.1 | 28.5 | 28.4 | 0.6 | -0.3 | -2.3 |
| - | All economies | 4,609.9 | 4,643.6 | 4,970.6 | 100.0 | 7.0 | 4.8 |
(a) The majority of total investment from Belgium is portfolio investment liabilities in the form of debt securities (Belgium hosts a major clearing house and depository for euro-denominated bonds and other securities, Euroclear).
np = not published
.. = not meaningful
Based on ABS catalogue 5352.0.
Last Updated: July 2025.
How does this compare with other economies?
Australia attracts the 16th-highest amount of direct foreign inward investment in the world.
The table below shows how our level of direct inward investment compared with other economies in 2023. Year-ending values are in US$ billion.
Economies ranked by direct foreign inward investment
| Rank in 2023 | Economy | 2021 (US$ billion) | 2022 (US$ billion) | 2023 (US$ billion) | % of total | % change 2022 to 2023 | 5-year trend % growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 12,891.7 | 10,383.9 | 12,817.1 | 26.1 | 23.4 | 10.4 |
| 2 | China | 3,633.3 | 3,496.4 | 3,659.6 | 7.4 | 4.7 | 21.2 |
| 3 | United Kingdom | 2,690.0 | 2,718.9 | 3,048.9 | 6.2 | 12.1 | 8.5 |
| 4 | Netherlands | 2,840.8 | 2,775.6 | 2,678.2 | 5.5 | -3.5 | 15.0 |
| 5 | Singapore | 2,224.2 | 2,327.0 | 2,632.4 | 5.4 | 13.1 | 11.2 |
| 6 | Hong Kong (SAR of China) | 1,957.4 | 2,008.2 | 2,107.0 | 4.3 | 4.9 | 1.8 |
| 7 | Canada | 1,548.8 | 1,496.0 | 1,665.8 | 3.4 | 11.3 | 9.4 |
| 8 | Ireland | 1,424.2 | 1,369.2 | 1,410.1 | 2.9 | 3.0 | 5.4 |
| 9 | Luxembourg | 1,515.8 | 1,155.7 | 1,183.7 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 47.9 |
| 10 | Switzerland | 1,100.4 | 1,038.0 | 1,136.8 | 2.3 | 9.5 | 0.1 |
| 11 | Germany | 1,105.4 | 1,091.6 | 1,128.3 | 2.3 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
| 12 | UK Virgin Islands | 990.2 | 1,028.4 | 1,068.2 | 2.2 | 3.9 | 4.3 |
| 13 | France | 944.6 | 947.2 | 1,012.7 | 2.1 | 6.9 | 4.5 |
| 14 | Brazil | 729.6 | 878.1 | 997.6 | 2.0 | 13.6 | 11.1 |
| 15 | Spain | 799.1 | 812.7 | 897.3 | 1.8 | 10.4 | 5.0 |
| 16 | Australia | 763.6 | 776.8 | 807.4 | 1.6 | 3.9 | 2.6 |
| 17 | Mexico | 592.2 | 662.7 | 778.4 | 1.6 | 17.5 | 7.7 |
| 18 | Malta | 478.8 | 491.5 | 725.7 | 1.5 | 47.7 | 31.2 |
| 19 | Cayman Islands | 548.3 | 572.9 | 601.1 | 1.2 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| 20 | Belgium | 563.8 | 531.0 | 578.0 | 1.2 | 8.8 | 1.0 |
| - | Other economies | 7,814.0 | 7,813.4 | 8,196.6 | 16.7 | 4.9 | 2.6 |
| - | All economies | 47,156.1 | 44,375.1 | 49,130.8 | 100.0 | 10.7 | 4.5 |
Source: UNCTAD World Investment Report - Annex tables. Last Updated: July 2024.