50 percent increase in foreign investment in Germany
Foreign companies invested 86 billion euros in Germany in 2025, some 50 percent more than in the year before. Companies from the United Kingdom, in particular, invested large sums.
Cologne (dpa) – The German Economic Institute (Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft, IW) reports a considerable increase in foreign investments in Germany. Direct investments rose to about 86 billion euros in 2025, which corresponds to a year-on-year increase of around 50 percent, according to calculations performed by the IW based on data provided by the Bundesbank. Following a drop of almost 32 percent in 2024, foreign investment has therefore stabilised once again, the IW states.
A clear shift can be observed in the origin of capital: US companies invested only 11.8 billion euros in Germany in 2025, almost 44 percent less than in the year before. The share of total foreign investments in Germany that is accounted for by the US therefore decreased from over 36 percent to around 14 percent. Investors from the United Kingdom, on the other hand, invested 26 billion euros, which corresponds to an increase of some 284 percent. Accounting for a share of almost 31 percent, the UK was the biggest foreign investor in Germany, according to the IW.
At 43 billion euros, the by far greatest share of foreign investment capital still originated in other EU countries.
