International Trade & Investment

The U.S. direct investment abroad position, or cumulative level of investment, increased $364.0 billion to $6.68 trillion at the end of 2023, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The increase reflected a $147.1 billion increase in the position in Europe (chart 1), primarily in Ireland, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. By industry, holding company affiliates had the largest increase.

The foreign direct investment in the United States position increased $227.0 billion to $5.39 trillion at the end of 2023. The increase mainly reflected a $96.0 billion increase in the position from Canada and an $86.1 billion increase from Europe, primarily a $58.9 billion increase from Germany. By industry, affiliates in manufacturing increased the most, increasing $58.6 billion to a total investment position of $2.22 trillion.

Worldwide employment by U.S. multinational enterprises increased 2.2 percent to 44.3 million workers in 2022 (preliminary) from 43.3 million workers in 2021 (revised), according to statistics released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis on the operations and finances of U.S. parent companies and their foreign affiliates.