As of the end of August, foreign direct investment (FDI) mounting to $2.3 billion from Europe, $1.7 billion from Asia and $0.3 billion from other regions flowed to Turkey, while investments by Asian residents surged by 91.3%.
According to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) data, $4.2 billion in foreign direct capital investment were made in Turkey from January to August, up by 11% compared to the same period last year.
On the basis of regions, the highest investment of $2.25 billion came from Europe in the eight-month period, followed by Asia with $1.7 billion, the Americas with $306 million and Africa with $31 million.
During this period, 52.6% of direct investment in Turkey was made by European investors, 39.5% by Asian investors, 7.2% by American investors and 0.7% by African investors.
In the January-August period last year, Turkey had attracted $2.7 billion in investments from Europe, $885 million from Asia, $227 million from the Americas and $1 million from Africa.
Asian investors' direct investments in Turkey at the end of August rose by 91% compared to the same period last year, while European investments declined by 16.8 % during the same period, the data revealed. So, Asia closed the gap to a large extent with Europe, which has been the leader in direct investments in Turkey for years.
Highest investments made by British investors
As of the end of August, Turkey attracted the highest direct investments from the U.K., Qatar, Azerbaijan, the Netherlands and Japan. Capital inflow from U.K. residents to Turkey amounted to $696 million, accounting for 16.3% of total direct investments.
Investments of $569 million flowed from Qatar, $564 million from Azerbaijan, $458 million from the Netherlands and $304 million from Japan.
In the same period, Italy was the country with the highest decrease in direct investments on amount basis, with Italian residents' investment in Turkey decreasing by $394 million compared to the same period last year. The amount of FDI from Austria fell by $384 million and from Luxembourg by $216 million.
The wholesale and retail trade sectors had the lion's share of investments in Turkey made by residents abroad as of the end of August. FDI by non-residents in this sector reached $721 million, amounting to 16.8% of total investments.
The wholesale and retail trade sectors were followed by coke and refined petroleum products with $421 million, chemical products with $419 million and holding activity companies with $410 million.
Considering the main sector groups, the services sector received the highest investment with $2.8 billion in the eight-month period, while the industrial sector attracted $1.5 billion.
In the same period, electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning production and distribution sectors saw the highest decline in direct investments on an amount basis at $647 million. The sector with the highest increase in investment was the construction sector with $347 million.
