Philippines FDI drops 20% in November despite strong year

February 10, 2025 | 4:37pm

MANILA, Philippines — Foreign direct investment into the Philippines fell to $901 million in November 2024, the central bank said on Monday, February 10.

“This represents a decline of 19.8% from the US$1.1 billion net inflows recorded in November 2023,” the BSP said in statement.

Net investments in debt instruments decreased to $791 million, down 17.9% from $964 million in the previous year. Equity capital investments, excluding reinvested earnings, dropped sharply by 58.9% to $35 million.

Reinvested earnings remained stable at $74 million.

Top investors. Japan emerged as the dominant investor, contributing 49% of November's FDI, followed by the United States at 24% and Singapore at 17%.

For the January-November period, Japan and the United Kingdom each accounted for 39% of total investments, while the U.S. contributed 10% and Singapore 5%.

Sectors. The breakdown of percentages per industry for the month of November 2024 alone are as follows:

    Manufacturing: 49%
    Real Estate: 25%
    Financial and Insurance: 9%
    Administrative and Support Service Industries: 5%
    Others: 12%

Taken cumulative from January 2024 to November 2024, FDI in the real estate industry took up a smaller percentage. Here is the FDI percentages per industry from January to November 2024:

    Manufacturing: 72%
    Real Estate: 12%
    Wholesale and retail trade: 4%
    Others: 12%

Year-to-date performance. Despite November's decline, cumulative FDI for January through November 2024 increased by 4.4% to $8.6 billion from $8.2 billion in the same period of 2023.