Ireland's record breaking foreign investment largely from 25 firms

DUBLIN, Ireland: Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Ireland reached 1.1 trillion euros in 2020, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

This equals nearly 325 per cent of national income - as measured by gross domestic product (GDP). Based on latest statistics, Ireland is one of the most globalized economies in the world, second only to Luxembourg.

In comparison, EU nations see an average of 79 per cent of foreign direct investment.
Of note, said the CSO, more than two thirds, equaling 750 billion euros, of this global investment comes from only 25 firms.

"This shows how highly concentrated Irish FDI is, given that there are thousands of firms that receive FDI investments in Ireland," the CSO said.

Of the total FDI, 839 billion euros, or 76 percent, comes from the U.S.

An analysis shows that U.S. FDI was responsible for 87,473 jobs in 2020.

UK FDI reached 15 billion euros during the same period.