Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) data presented in the June 2009 “Foreign Direct Investment in the United States: New Investment in 2008” article shows that outlays for foreign direct investors to acquire or to establish U.S. businesses were $260.4 billion in 2008, a 3 percent increase over the previous year. Outlays in 2008 were the third largest on record and the sixth consecutive increase since a falloff in 2001–2002.

Among major industries, there was a substantial increase in outlays in manufacturing, which accounted for the majority of the spending by investors in 2008. Outlays also rose in information and in finance. However, outlays in real estate fell sharply.

Outlays increased from investors in Europe, in the Latin America and Other Western Hemisphere region, and in the Asia and Pacific region. As in previous years, the largest share of outlays was from European investors. Outlays by investors from Canada and the Middle East fell.