Record year for investments
After a decade-high posted in 2021, FDI in Greece is expected to climb even higher in 2022
Greece may not yet have dramatically improved its position in critical indicators such as global competitiveness, but in 2021 it managed to attract the most foreign direct investment (FDI) since 2011.
According to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), last year the total value of FDI reached 6.3 billion euros, recording an increase of 97% compared to 2020, when the inflow of foreign capital was anemic due to the lockdowns.
This year could end with a new record of foreign investment, given that in the first half of 2022 their value already corresponded to 75% of the FDI that came to Greece in 2021 (€4.8 billion). However, in the second quarter of 2022, compared to the first three months of the year, foreign investment in Greece fell by 43%, to approximately €2 billion – i.e. it followed a downward trajectory in line with the international trend. Globally, in the first half of the year foreign investment reached €983.5 billion, having fallen by 22% in the second quarter, as reported by the OECD.
Despite the good performance, FDI in Greece is lower compared to other countries. For example, the amount of foreign capital invested in Portugal in the first half of this year amounted to €6.1 billion, in Italy it was €9.3 billion and in Turkey €5.4 billion.
Property investments represent an important part of foreign invested capital, as in 2021 €1.17 billion was invested in Greek real estate, which represents an increase of 34.4% from 2020. Also tourism, energy (particularly natural gas), RES and networks, IT and communication technologies, health services and medicines, agriculture and food, but also the supply chain are among the sectors that attract serious foreign investment.
According to Enterprise Greece, the agency responsible for attracting FDI to the country, strong investment interest is coming from the US, the Middle East, as well as countries such as Germany, France, China, Italy, Russia, the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, Israel and Luxembourg.
