The Chilean Central Bank released the December foreign direct investment (FDI) figures, revealing that the country received net investment flows of US$14.2 billion over the past year. The figure represented a 13% increase over 2024 (US$12.5 billion) and brought FDI flows over the last four years to an average of US$16 billion, 12% above the historical average of US$14.2 billion recorded since 2003.
At US$8.6 billion, reinvested earnings constitute the largest component of last year’s cumulative FDI flows, followed by capital at US$5.2 billion and related-party debt at US$368 million.
The Agency noted that these are preliminary results and will be reviewed on March 18, when the Central Bank publishes the final 2025 figures.
According to InvestChile Director Karla Flores, the 2025 results show that foreign investment has diversified and remains active in our country. “The best sign of foreign companies’ confidence in Chile and the attractiveness of our country is seen in how they are setting up operations and developing their investment projects.”
“Over these four years, we have seen a stronger presence by companies from different parts of the world in Chile, across traditional investment sectors as well as new development areas such as clean energy, technological and digital infrastructure, and global service centers. Chile’s institutional strength and the dynamism of its market stand out at the regional level and position it as an investor favorite,” said Flores, who added that “it is therefore essential that we protect and strengthen our comparative advantages, both natural and those we have developed in institutional terms over decades as a country.”
She also noted that “Chile and its policy of promoting and encouraging foreign investment have successfully weathered the drop in global investment flows, while managing to diversify both the sources of origin and the economic sectors and segments of destination, which helps improve our external resilience, a key issue today given the prevailing international context.”
She remarked, “Beyond the excellent figures and amounts of foreign investment and its contribution to economic activity, we must consider the contribution that foreign companies have made in key sectors of our economy through capital injections, the use and transfer of new technology and knowledge, the creation of quality jobs and the development of a network of SME suppliers throughout the different regions of our country.” Finally, Flores emphasized that “today we have a firm foundation for facing a challenging international context, which will require redoubling our efforts to promote the country as a competitive, reliable destination for international investment.”
