Foreign direct investment in Chile hits a record high in 2021

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The Chilean Central Bank has released a revised version of its preliminary figures, showing that FDI increased 66% compared to the first half of 2020 to reach US$13.7 billion. This is an all-time high for the January-June period and is 98% above the historic average (US$7 billion).  

Foreign Direct Investment, FDI, in Chile during the twelve months of 2021 reached US$ 16,782 billion, the best amount since 2015, according to the Central bank which added it represented a 95% increase over 2020. Overall it was 62% higher than the average of the last five years, and 16% above the 2003/2021 average.

The Central bank added that in December only, FDI amounted to US$ 787 million, much of it reinvestment from US$ 1,2 billion in assets’ earnings. The bank also pointed out that the peak of FDI was back in 2012 when it totalled US$ 31,4 billion.

“This is very good news for Chile and gives an idea of the performance of the Chilean economy”, said the head of the InvestChile office, Andres Rodríguez. He underlined that foreign investment projects involve years of planning and have to comply with several chapters before they materialize, “so what we are seeing now is a continuity of capital influx which has not interrupted, and again confirmation of international corporations confidence in the country”.

By 2021, UNCTAD, the UN conference on trade and development had estimated that global FDI will have increased between 10 and 15%, after having dropped 40% in 2020 because of the pandemic impact.

“Chile’s growth overcame several times that estimate, which is most important ahead of a year in which efforts will continue to fully reactivate the economy and employment in Chile, tasks in which foreign investment will continue to play a most relevant role”, underlined Rodriguez.

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