• Economy, Development and Tourism Minister Nicolás Grau highlighted the elevated figures and pledged that the government will continue to work hard to maintain this trend.

Chile’s Central Bank reported this morning that between January and November of 2022, Chile received US$16.85 in foreign direct investment (FDI). According to InvestChile’s analysis, this is 11% higher than FDI over the same period in 2021, and 24% greater than the five-year average of US$13.62 billion. The amount for the 11-month period also tops total foreign investment in Chile for all of 2021 (US$15.25 billion).

A month-by-month comparison shows that the FDI of US$1.58 billion reported for November 2022 was far higher than FDI in November 2021, which was actually minus US$2.09 billion owing to the large amount of profits remitted abroad. For reference, the monthly average FDI over the past 12 months (December 2021-November 2022) was US$1.407 billion.

Equity participation was the leading component of FDI flow during the period, amounting to US$7.79 billion. Profit reinvestment followed, at US$6.1 billion, while debt instruments accounted for US$2.96 billion, a drop from October 2022 (US$3.91 billion) that was due to related debt payments.

FDI and sustainable development

While applauding these very favorable figures and Chile’s lively foreign investment scenario, Minister Grau commented, “This is good news, but we should remember that FDI is dynamic, so if we want these figures to remain positive, if we want foreign companies to continue choosing Chile for their projects in the region—sustainable projects aligned with the country’s development—our government must continue to work hard.”

“InvestChile’s efforts to attract investment from Europe and the USA will receive a boost this year from the recent opening of the agency’s new investment attaché offices, as well from the measures contained in the ‘Let’s invest in Chile’ plan, which we hope will keep foreign investment flowing actively this year,” commented the Minister.

InvestChile Director Karla Flores indicated that the high numbers achieved in 2022 will be hard to match this year, as they set a high bar that will require the agency to redouble its efforts. InvestChile kicked off that work by hosting the VI International InvestChile Forum 2022 and appointing new investment attachés for Europe and North America.

“Chile has caught the eye of high tech and clean energy investors, and it is those companies that we want to invite to be part of the country’s development,” said Flores.