News Release
New Foreign Direct Investment in the United States, 2021
Expenditures by foreign direct investors to acquire, establish, or expand U.S. businesses totaled $333.6 billion (preliminary) in 2021. Expenditures increased $192.2 billion from $141.4 billion (revised) in 2020 and were above the annual average of $289.7 billion for 2014–2020. As in previous years, acquisitions of existing businesses accounted for most of total expenditures.
In 2021, expenditures for acquisitions were $330.2 billion, expenditures to establish new U.S. businesses were $1.6 billion, and expenditures to expand existing foreign-owned businesses were $1.8 billion. Planned total expenditures, which include both first-year and planned future expenditures, were $345.8 billion.
Expenditures by industry, country, and state
By industry, expenditures for new direct investment were largest in manufacturing, at $121.3 billion, accounting for 36.4 percent of total expenditures. Within manufacturing, expenditures were largest in chemical manufacturing ($63.2 billion) and computers and electronic products ($30.2 billion). There were also notable expenditures in the real estate and rental and leasing sector ($43.8 billion).
By country of ultimate beneficial owner (UBO), the largest investing country was the United Kingdom, with expenditures of $59.7 billion. The Netherlands ($43.1 billion) was the second-largest investing country, followed by France ($35.3 billion). By region, Europe contributed 70.0 percent of new investment in 2021.
By U.S. state, California received the most investment, totaling $64.1 billion, followed by Massachusetts ($53.8 billion) and New York ($34.2 billion).
Greenfield expenditures
Greenfield investment expenditures—expenditures to either establish a new U.S. business or to expand an existing foreign-owned U.S. business—were $3.4 billion in 2021. For greenfield investment initiated in 2021, total planned expenditures until completion, which include both first-year and future expenditures, were $15.6 billion.
By U.S. industry, greenfield expenditures in 2021 were largest in utilities ($1.2 billion) and chemical manufacturing ($0.3 billion). By region of UBO, Europe ($2.1 billion) and Asia and Pacific ($0.6 billion) had the largest expenditures. By U.S. state, Texas received the highest level of greenfield investment ($0.9 billion), followed by Delaware ($0.4 billion).
Employment by newly acquired, established, or expanded foreign-owned businesses
In 2021, employment at newly acquired, established, or expanded foreign-owned businesses in the United States was 236,900 employees. Current employment of acquired enterprises was 234,500. Total planned employment, which includes the current employment of acquired enterprises, the planned employment of newly established business enterprises when fully operational, and the planned employment associated with expansions, was 241,400.
By industry, retail trade accounted for the largest number of employees (48,900), followed by manufacturing (47,400). By country of UBO, Canada (46,500), Japan (between 25,000 and 50,000), and the United Kingdom (20,600) accounted for the largest number of employees. 1
By U.S. state, Pennsylvania had the largest employment resulting from new investment (44,700), followed by California (43,600) and New York (14,500). Employment for an acquired entity that operated in multiple states is attributed to the state in which it had the greatest number of employees.
| Previously Published Estimate | Revised Estimate | |
|---|---|---|
| First-year expenditures | 120.7 | 141.4 |
| U.S. businesses acquired | 116.3 | 135.9 |
| U.S. businesses established | 1.9 | 2.6 |
| U.S. businesses expanded | 2.4 | 2.8 |
| Planned total expenditures | 135.8 | 160.4 |
| U.S. businesses acquired | 116.3 | 135.9 |
| U.S. businesses established | 13.4 | 14.9 |
| U.S. businesses expanded | 6.1 | 9.6 |
Next release: July 2023
New Foreign Direct Investment in the United States, 2022
1 Size ranges are provided for employment values that are suppressed to ensure the confidentiality of survey responses.