Countries with the Most Foreign Direct Investment

Source: UNCTAD Foreign direct investment (FDI) has traditionally been defined as a physical investment into a country from a foreign entreprise - like the construction of an industrial building - but is also recognized as large-scale, long-term investment outside an investor's domestic economy. In this case, investors are most often multi-national corporations and investment firms.Following the global economic crisis, the amount of investment capital shrank, with total global FDI inflows falling from the all time high of $1,979 billion in 2007 to $1,697 billion in 2008, according to the UNCTAD, a UN agency which tracks this information.FDI inflows represent investment originating from foreign economies, while a country's FDI outflows represent a country's investments placed outside of its borders. A net positive FDI inflow indicates the potential for job creation and corporate expansion of the host country while a negative flow suggests more numerous and attractive investments exist outside the country.So, which countries boast the biggest amount of foreign direct investment? Click ahead to find out!By Paul ToscanoPosted 9 Oct 2009

Photo: AP 2008 FDI StatisticsInflow: $22.73 billion (1.3% of world total)Outflow: $8.93 billion (0.48% of world total)2007 FDI StatisticsInflow: $31.55 billion (1.6% of world total)Outflow: $24.56 billion (1.1% of world total)Pictured: Street scene with Convention Center towers seen through slight haze, Singapore

Photo: AP 2008 FDI StatisticsInflow: $24.43 billion (1.4% of world total)Outflow: $128.02 billion (6.9% of world total)2007 FDI StatisticsInflow: $22.55 billion (1.1% of world total)Outflow: $73.55 billion (3.4% of world total)Pictured: Workers at Snow Brand Milk Products Company factory

Photo: AP 2008 FDI StatisticsInflow: $24.94 billion (1.5% of world total)Outflow: $156.46 billion (8.4% of world total)2007 FDI StatisticsInflow: $56.41 billion (2.9% of world total)Outflow: $179.55 billion (8.4% of world total)Pictured: Airbus factory in Nordenham, northern Germany.

Photo: AP 2008 FDI StatisticsInflow: $43.66 billion (2.6% of world total)Outflow: $37.351 billion (2% of world total)2007 FDI StatisticsInflow: $22.07 billion (1.1% of world total)Outflow: $37.80 billion (1.8% of world total)Pictured: Customer shops for meat in market, Stockholm, Sweden.

Photo: AP 2008 FDI StatisticsInflow: $44.71 billion (2.6% of world total)Outflow: $77.67 billion (4.2% of world total)2007 FDI StatisticsInflow: $108.41 billion (5.5% of world total)Outflow: $59.64 billion (2.8% of world total)Pictured: Ford Motors St. Thomas assembly plant, Ontario, Canada

Photo: AP 2008 FDI StatisticsInflow: $45.06 billion (2.7% of world total)Outflow: $20.46 billion (1.1% of world total)2007 FDI StatisticsInflow: $34.59 billion (1.7% of world total)Outflow: $7.07 billion (0.33% of world total)Pictured: Workers carry plywood at a factory, Curitiba, Brazil

Photo: AP 2008 FDI StatisticsInflow: $46.77 billion (2.8% of world total)Outflow: $35.93 billion (1.9% of world total)2007 FDI StatisticsInflow: $44.33 billion (2.2% of world total)Outflow: $16.81 billion (0.78% of world total)Pictured: Farmer watches Merino sheep during muster, Young, Australia

Photo: Hans Hillewaert // Wikimedia Commons 2008 FDI StatisticsInflow: $59.68 billion (3.5% of world total)Outflow: $68.79 billion (3.7% of world total)2007 FDI StatisticsInflow: $110.77 billion (5.6% of world total)Outflow: $93.90 billion (4.4% of world total)Pictured: Windmills at the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium.

Photo: AP 2008 FDI StatisticsInflow: $63 billion (3.7% of world total)Outflow: $59.92 billion (3.2% of world total)2007 FDI StatisticsInflow: $54.37 billion (2.7% of world total)Outflow: $61.12 billion (2.8% of world total)Pictured: Motorola Semiconductor workers leave factory at end of work day, Hong Kong

Photo: AP 2008 FDI StatisticsInflow: $65.54 billion (3.9% of world total)Outflow: $77.32 billion (4.2% of world total)2007 FDI StatisticsInflow: $28.18 billion (1.4% of world total)Outflow: $96.06 billion (4.5% of world total)Pictured: Madrid Stock Exchange, Madrid, Spain

Photo: AP 2008 FDI StatisticsInflow: $70.32 billion (4.1% of world total)Outflow: $52.39 billion (2.8% of world total)2007 FDI StatisticsInflow: $55.07 billion (2.8% of world total)Outflow: $45.92 billion (2.1% of world total)Pictured: Renault Logan cars on production line at Avtoframos automobile plant in Moscow, Russia.

Photo: AP 2008 FDI StatisticsInflow: $96.94 billion (5.7% of world total)Outflow: $111.41 billion (6% of world total)2007 FDI StatisticsInflow: $183.39 billion (9.3% of world total)Outflow: $275.48 billion (12.8% of world total)Pictured: Sign at London Stock Exchange, England

Photo: AP 2008 FDI StatisticsInflow: $108.31 billion (6.4% of world total)Outflow: $52.15 billion (2.8% of world total)2007 FDI StatisticsInflow: $83.52 billion (4.2% of world total)Outflow: $22.47 billion (1% of world total)Pictured: Worker welds interior of a car, Geely auto factory, Ningbo, China.

Photo: AP 2008 FDI StatisticsInflow: $117.51 billion (6.9% of world total)Outflow: $220.05 billion (11.8% of world total)2007 FDI StatisticsInflow: $157.97 billion (7.9% of world total)Outflow: $224.65 billion  (10.4% of world total)Pictured: Mechanics work on Gazelle helicopter at the Eurocopter factory, in Marignane, southern France.

Photo: Oliver Quillia 2008 FDI StatisticsInflow: $316.11 billion (18.6% of world total)Outflow: $311.79 billion (16.8% of world total)2007 FDI StatisticsInflow: $271.18 billion (13.7% of world total)Outflow: $378.36 billion (17.6% of world total)Pictured: Exterior of the New York Stock Exchange, New York City.

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