FDI in Greece at record levels
Mergers and acquisitions of domestic companies by foreigners almost doubled last year
Foreign direct investment in Greece registered a historic high in 2022, according to data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Its annual report on FDI, World Investment Report 2022, showed its value in Greece at $7.604 billion last year, against $6.328 billion in 2021, up by 20.2%.
Notably, in 2021, a year in which a 31-year record was set, the value of FDI based on UNCTAD’s revised data was much higher than the initial estimate of the international organization for $5.732 billion.
Almost 75% of the FDI carried out in Greece in 2022 concerned mergers and acquisitions of Greek companies by foreign investors.
That FDI rise last year is particularly important, given that after the pandemic there was the energy-inflationary crisis that mainly affected Europe. In Europe, after all, FDI as a whole fell in 2022 by 8.2% compared to 2021, while in the European Union the value of FDI decreased even more, by 9.7%. Globally, FDI also declined in 2022 compared to 2021, by 12.4%. It is recalled that in 2021 FDI worldwide had increased by 64%, mainly thanks to the restart of economic activity after the lockdowns.
The stock of FDI in Greece reached $49.24 billion last year, against $42.11 billion in 2021, registering an increase of 16.9%.
FDI related to mergers and acquisitions of Greek companies by foreign capital reached $5.634 billion, from $2.9 billion in 2021, recording an increase of 94.2%. On the other hand, FDI concerning completely new investments – i.e. the establishment of new businesses or expansion with new investments (greenfield investments) – saw a decrease for another year: Their value was $2.196 billion against $2.41 billion in 2021, a drop of 8.9%. A 19.5% annual decrease was noted in investments characterized as “greenfield.” The main reason for this is that many bureaucratic obstacles still in place prevent foreign investors from starting something from scratch in the Greek market, and there are very good Greek companies in which they choose to invest and have much more immediate results – though that creates fewer jobs.
