Global foreign direct investment rose 14% y-o-y last year to USD 1.6 tn, marking a rebound after two consecutive years of decline, according to preliminary UN Trade and Development data in its Global Investment Trends Monitor report (pdf). But the headline figures hide a stark reality — it was mostly only developed nations that saw an uptick in FDI flows, and this was driven by a surge of AI and data center investment.

By the numbers: Developed nations saw FDI flows increase 43% last year to USD 728 bn, accounting for some 55% of total global FDI. While in stark contrast, developing economies saw flows fall 2% to around USD 877 bn, and flows to least developed countries were “stagnant or declining” in three quarters of cases.

Data centers — which are almost exclusively limited to developed nations — alone accounted for 20% of all global greenfield project values last year, with announced investments exceeding USD 270 bn. Alongside this, investments in semiconductor projects were up 35% throughout the year.

In contrast, greenfield projects in renewable energy dropped by 28% to USD 197 bn as investors increasingly pull back from large-scale green infrastructure due to revenue risks and regulatory uncertainty, opting instead for the high-margin, proprietary infrastructure of AI.

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THE CLOSING BELL-

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