Outward FDI stocks as a share of GDP in European countries in 2022

As of 2022, the European country with the largest outward foreign direct investment (FDI) stock when compared with its gross domestic product was Luxembourg, with had outward FDI stocks worth over 19 times its GDP. The small Western European country has become a hub for the European headquarters of multinational corporations and financial institutions, due to its strategic importance for the administration and politics of the European Union, as well as its relatively relaxed investment relations and low corporation tax rates. Much of the outward flows from Luxembourg reflect transfers of companies based in Luxembourg to their foreign affiliates.

The Netherlands, Ireland, and Switzerland also have large outward FDI stocks in comparison with their GDP, due to their similarly liberal regulatory regimes and low corporation tax, meaning that they also have a large number of affiliates of multination corporations and financial institutions based in these countries. On the other hand, Poland was the European country with the smallest outward FDI stock when compared with its GDP, with the Central European country have outward FDI stocks worth only four percent of its annual economic output.