SH: Eurostat data shows EU as net investor in 2013
BRUSSELS, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) was a net investor in the rest of the world in 2013, according to the figures issued Wednesday by Eurostat.
The statistical office of the EU said in a statement that at the end of 2013, the EU held foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks of 4.9 trillion euros (5.54 trillion U.S. dollars) in the rest of the world, while stocks of foreign investment in the EU amounted to 3.77 trillion euros.
North America, and in particular the United States, represented the main partner of the EU for FDI. At the end of 2013, the United States was the leading location of EU FDI stocks, followed by Switzerland, Brazil and Canada.
The United States was also by far the main investor in the EU, ahead of Switzerland. Together, the countries accounted for more than half of FDI stocks held by the rest of the world in the EU at the end of 2013.
Eurostat also noted that special purpose entities (SPEs) resident in the EU played a significant role in both outward and inward FDI. At the end of 2013, they accounted for 55 percent of the FDI stocks held by the EU abroad and for 70 percent of the FDI stocks held by the rest of the world in the EU. (1 euro = 1.13 U.S. dollar)
