Business & Markets · FDI inflows · Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s FDI inflows fell to $3.8bn in 2025.
$3.8bn
2025
Down $0.23bn from 2024.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
$3.8bn
What it is. This measure counts the money foreign investors put into businesses in Ethiopia, after subtracting what they withdraw. It covers new equity, profits that foreign-owned firms reinvest and loans between a foreign parent and its local branch, where the investor takes a lasting stake in the firm. Purchases of shares and bonds for short-term gain, aid and ordinary bank lending sit outside it. Because it is reported in current US dollars, the figure moves with exchange rates and prices as well as with deal flow.
Higher is better. Higher is better because more inflow means more capital for factories, farms and services, along with foreign currency and the skills that investors bring. The latest figure, for 2025, is $3.8bn, down from $4bn in 2024, a fall of 5.6%. Since 2016 the series has ranged from a low of $2.4bn in 2020 to a high of $4.3bn in 2021. The 2025 figure therefore sits in the upper part of that range, a little below the 2021 peak and well above the 2020 trough.
Why it matters. For Ethiopia, foreign investment pays for factories, telecoms and farming projects that create jobs, and it brings in the dollars the country needs to buy imports such as fuel and machinery. An inflow of $3.8bn keeps that supply running at close to the best levels of the past decade. The next annual figure will show whether the dip from $4bn is a pause or the start of a slide away from the $4.3bn high.
| Period | FDI inflows · Ethiopia |
|---|---|
| 2016 | $4.1bn |
| 2017 | $4bn |
| 2018 | $3.4bn |
| 2019 | $2.5bn |
| 2020 | $2.4bn |
| 2021 | $4.3bn |
| 2022 | $3.7bn |
| 2023 | $3.3bn |
| 2024 | $4bn |
| 2025 | $3.8bn |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Strata-AF™ Data, FDI inflows, Ethiopia, 2025; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/business/fdi-inflows/ethiopia
Data insights · Worked out from the published figures
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Methodology
Foreign direct investment, net inflows, current US dollars. Unit: USD bn.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series BX.KLT.DINV.CD.WD), retrieved through the World Bank API and published under CC BY 4.0. Updated annually; the World Bank's own source notes apply.