Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

Target 17.3: Mobilize additional financial resources for developing countries from multiple sources

Indicator 17.3.1: Foreign direct investments (FDI), official development assistance and South-South Cooperation as a proportion of gross national income (GNI)

Institutional information

Organization(s):

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Concepts and definitions

Definition:

FDI part: FDI inflows (expressed in millions of US dollars)

Concepts:

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is defined as an investment involving a long-term relationship and reflecting a lasting interest and control by a resident entity in one economy (foreign

direct investor or parent enterprise) in an enterprise resident in an economy other than that of the foreign direct investor (FDI enterprise or affiliate enterprise or foreign affiliate). Please see the Methodological Note of UNCTAD’s World Investment Report (https://unctad.org/en/PublicationChapters/wir2019chMethodNote_en.pdf).

Rationale:

FDI has been the largest source of external finance for developing economies over the past decade, and the most resilient to economic and financial shocks.

Comments and limitations:

FDI inflows are available from 1980 onwards.

Methodology

Computation method:

UNCTAD regularly collects published and unpublished national official FDI data flows directly from central banks, statistical offices or national authorities.

Treatment of missing values:

  • At country level:

FDI data: estimated by annualizing the data or using mirror data.

  • At regional and global levels:

FDI data: None

Regional aggregates:

FDI data can broken down by country and region.

Sources of discrepancies:

FDI data are continually revised, updated and corrected by relevant national authorities, such as central banks and statistical offices, which provide FDI data to UNCTAD.

Methods and guidance available to countries for the compilation of the data at the national level:

Quality assurance:

Data sources

Description:

UNCTAD has been collecting FDI data by relevant national authorities, such as central banks and statistical offices (please see here for the sources and methodology of data for each economy (https://unctad.org/en/PublicationChapters/wir2019chMethodNote_en.pdf).

Collection process:

FDI data: In compiling FDI inflows published data and websites of national sources were consulted first. Requests were then made to national official sources of all economies for verification and/or updates and supplementary data.

Data availability

Description:

Around 200 economies report FDI inflows data.

Time series:

1980-2019

Disaggregation:

FDI inflows data can be disaggregated at the country level.

Calendar

Data collection:

April 2020

Data release:

June 2020

Data providers

FDI data are provided by relevant national authorities, such as central banks and statistical offices (please see here for the sources and methodology of data for each economy (https://unctad.org/en/PublicationChapters/wir2019chMethodNote_en.pdf).

Data compilers

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)