As a sign of the continuing investor appetite in Turkey and the quick recovery in the wake of the pandemic, FDI inflows into Turkey totaled USD 7.7 billion in 2020, when the global appetite for FDI throughout the world shrank at a considerable amount stemming from the negative effects of the novel coronavirus. With this figure, total FDI inflows into Turkey in the 2003-2020 period reached USD 225 billion.
In the last quarter of 2020, FDI inflows into Turkey reached USD 3 billion, reaching a share of 40 percent in total FDI amount in the entire year. Turkey recorded an FDI inflow of USD 1.3 billion in December 2020, a considerable 31 percent increase when compared to the same month of the previous year.
With this performance, Turkey once again proved resilient against crisis and shocks while demonstrating that it is a safe haven with robust economic fundamentals.
Diversified FDI Sources
Turkey also diversified its FDI sources in 2020. While the traditional FDI investments continue to originate from European countries, which have a 53.8 percent share in total, Turkey is now seeing higher FDI inflows from USA, the Middle East and Asian countries having respective shares of 14.1 percent, 7.1 percent and 6.5 percent in total FDI in 2020. On a country basis, Italy, USA, the Netherlands, the UK and Luxembourg accounted for the top five FDI sources of Turkey in 2020.
Increasing Share in Global FDI
Turkey’s share in global FDI inflows reached 0.9 percent in 2020 up from 0.6 percent in the previous year, according to the data of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). UNCTAD also unveiled that global FDI inflows throughout the world receded by 42 percent in 2020.
