“Jaw-dropping” £300 billion negative swing in foreign investment flows since Brexit

Robert Peston has described a £300 billion negative swing in foreign investment as “jaw-dropping” after new figures revealed FDI has dropped off a cliff since the Brexit vote.

Global FDI flows reached their lowest level since 2013 in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to OECD figures.

Inflows to the OECD area decreased by 37 per cent, largely driven by decreases in the United Kingdom and the United States from high levels in 2016.

Outflows from the OECD area decreased by a more modest 4 per cent.

Seems to have been a jaw-dropping £300bn swing in foreign investment flows to and from UK, in a negative sense, between 2016 and 2017 according to latest OECD figures. Nothing to do with Brexit, of course

— Robert Peston (@Peston) April 27, 2018

In the UK, FDI outward flows went from minus £22 billion in 2016 to £99.7 billion (positive) the following year.

Inward flows dropped from £196 billion to £15 billion over the same period of time, resulting in a more than £300 billion swing.

Theresa May said the record year for FDI in 2016 meant a “vote in confidence” in UK businesses following the Brexit vote.

She has yet to comment on the latest figures.

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