Fact check: How does the US compare to other countries in terms of foreign direct investment in 2024?

1. Summary of the results

The United States demonstrated exceptional performance in foreign direct investment during 2024, significantly outpacing global trends. The US bucked the trend of declining foreign direct investment in developed economies, with a 23% increase in FDI in 2024 ^[1], while global foreign direct investment fell by 11% in 2024 ^[1]. This made North America the only region to experience growth in FDI ^[1].

In absolute terms, foreign direct investment in the United States increased $332.1 billion to $5.71 trillion at the end of 2024 ^[2]. The US maintained its position as the world's largest investment destination at the end of 2023, with cumulative foreign direct investment reaching $5.4 trillion ^[3]. New foreign investment expenditures totaled $151.0 billion in 2024, with the largest investments coming from Ireland and Canada ^[4].

The US particularly excelled in digital economy investments, with 85% of total capital spending in semiconductors announced in the US, driven by a $100bn pledge by Taiwanese TSMC to build its factories in Arizona ^[5]. Four countries - Japan, Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom - account for more than half of the total cumulative foreign direct investment in the US ^[3].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The analyses reveal several important contextual factors not immediately apparent from the question:

• The US's share of global FDI has been declining despite absolute growth, with its share decreasing to 26 percent in 2023 ^[3], indicating that while the US remains dominant, the country faces stiff global competition for investment dollars ^[3].
• The comparison lacks perspective on other major economies' performance during the same period. While foreign investment flows to Latin America and the Caribbean decreased by 12% in 2024 ^[6], there's limited data on how other developed economies like the EU or Asian markets performed relative to the US.
• The US is simultaneously a major investor abroad, with U.S. direct investment abroad position increased $206.3 billion to $6.83 trillion ^[2], suggesting a two-way flow that complicates simple comparisons.
• The majority of expenditures went to the manufacturing sector ^[4] and focused on acquisitions of existing U.S. businesses rather than greenfield investments ^[4], which may indicate different investment motivations compared to other countries.

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question itself doesn't contain misinformation but lacks important nuance. A complete answer requires acknowledging that:

• While the US performed exceptionally well in absolute terms and growth rates, its relative global market share has been declining ^[3], suggesting that other regions may be gaining ground in attracting investment.
• The question implies a simple ranking comparison, but the reality involves complex bidirectional investment flows where the US is both a major recipient and source of FDI.
• The concentration of investments in specific sectors like semiconductors and from particular countries like Ireland and Canada ^[4] suggests that the US advantage may be sector-specific rather than broadly applicable across all investment categories.

The analyses consistently show the US as the global leader in FDI attraction, but this dominance comes with caveats about market share erosion and sector concentration that a simple comparative question might obscure.