Dhaka, June 19 -- Global foreign direct investment (FDI) dropped by 11 per cent in the last year, marking the second consecutive year of decline and also confirming a sharp slowdown in productive capital flows.

The World Investment Report 2025, released on Thursday by the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva, unveiled the picture.

The report added that although global FDI rose by 4 per cent in 2024 to US$1.5 trillion in regular count, volatile financial conduit flows through several European economies push the rise.

But the financial conduit flows often serve as transfer points for investments, making it a 'double-counting' of foreign investment and also push an artificial increase. That's why UNCTAD excluded the high levels of ...