Singapore Among World’s Five Largest FDI Recipients in 2025

GENEVA - Singapore ranked among the world’s five largest recipients of foreign direct investment in 2025.

UN Trade and Development identified Singapore as one of the five largest recipients of foreign direct investment worldwide in its World Investment Report 2026, placing the city-state among the leading destinations for international investment during the year.

Singapore’s performance came during a strong year for Southeast Asia. UNCTAD reported that the subregion overtook East Asia to become developing Asia’s largest recipient of foreign direct investment in 2025. Malaysia recorded a 51% increase in FDI inflows and Thailand a 30% rise, according to UNCTAD’s foreign direct investment data.

Globally, foreign direct investment increased 6% to about US$1.6 trillion in 2025. UNCTAD said the headline increase masked an uneven investment environment, with flows remaining concentrated in a relatively small number of economies and projects.

UNCTAD cautioned that headline FDI figures do not always translate into new factories, infrastructure, jobs or technology transfer. The development impact depends in part on whether investment expands productive capacity, creates employment, strengthens skills and supports technology transfer.

Singapore’s domestic investment-promotion figures nevertheless point to substantial commitments to productive activity. The Singapore Economic Development Board reported S$14.2 billion in fixed-asset investment commitments in 2025, including about S$12.1 billion from manufacturing-related projects.

According to the EDB’s 2025 year-in-review, those commitments are expected to generate 15,700 jobs and S$18 billion in annual value added when fully implemented over the next five years. The figures measure investment commitments rather than FDI flows and are therefore not directly comparable with UNCTAD’s international investment statistics.

Singapore’s position comes as Southeast Asia strengthens its role in global investment despite trade-policy uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and high financing costs. UNCTAD said the outlook remained uneven, with the benefits of international investment distributed differently across economies and sectors.