Brazil is the 7th country that most attracted foreign investment in 2021, says Unctad

Brazil regained one position and rose to 7th place in the ranking of countries that most attracted foreign investment in 2021, according to a survey by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad).

Foreign investment in Brazil went from US$ 28 billion in 2020 to $58 billion the following year, which represents a growth of 133%.

“This is yet another number that shows that the world was very liquid last year, because of the unprecedented injections of government stimulus,” said Priscila Yazbek, an economics analyst at the CNN Brasil Business.

The United States leads the ranking, and is followed by China, Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Canada.

“Still, even with the increase, we still have a lower flow in 2021 than in 2019, before the pandemic, when foreign investment was $65.8 billion,” the CNN analyst said.

“This reflects a movement that took place not only here, but in other emerging countries, in which the flow of foreign investment rose less,” he added.

In the world, the flow of foreign direct investment rose 77% in 2021, to US$ 1 trillion and 650 billion. However, in developed economies the number was even higher, with an increase of 199%. The less developed ones, on the other hand, showed a growth of 33%.

“Foreign investment has surpassed the pre-pandemic level in developed countries, but has not recovered as much in emerging countries. This shows that investments returned last year, mainly in safer countries”, analyzed Yazbek.

Unctad states that the outlook for 2022 is positive, but that the recovery should not be as vigorous as in 2021, because the basis for comparison is different.

According to them, last year’s comparison base was very weak, as it referred to 2020, the height of the pandemic.