Entrepreneurs attracted $5.6 billion in FDI to establish new businesses in 2016

Foreign investors expended $373.4 billion in 2016 to acquire, establish, or expand U.S. businesses — a 15 percent decrease (approximately $66.2 billion) from $439.6 billion in 2015 — according to an infobrief from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Of that $373.4 billion, approximately $5.6 billion was deployed to support the creation of new businesses. BEA reports that foreign direct investment (FDI) in newly acquired, established, or expanded foreign-owned businesses was responsible for employing 480,800 individuals. The BEA data also provides information on investments broken out by select industries, state, and type of investment made (e.g., startup capital, expansion capital, or business acquisition).

The Department of Commerce also recently released a Request for Information (RFI) on the BEA’s Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment in the United States. Through this RFI, BEA requests comments on proposed changes in data items collected, the design of the survey forms, and the reporting requirements for the survey to satisfy changing data needs, improve data quality and the effectiveness and efficiency of data collection. Comments are due Sept. 25.