Foreign Direct Investment in Malta at the end of last year stood at €12.5 billion, while direct Investment abroad amounted to €1.3 billion, the NSO said.

It said in a statement that at the end of December 2011, foreign direct investment in Malta improved slightly over the year before, to an estimated €12.5 billion.

EU states remained the largest contributors of FDI in Malta, with €8.9 billion, or 71 per cent of total FDI.

Germany accounted for 56.3 per cent of this amount. There was also an increase of €192 million from the EU27.

FDI net inflows in 2011 were estimated at €371.2 million, with 80.1 per cent emanating from the EU.

The drop in total net inflows of FDI when compared to the previous year was largely due to the extraordinary net inflow of €758.7 million from the Australia and Oceania region in 2010.

There was a turnaround in flows from the other European countries, from a net outflow of €303.5 million in 2010 to a net inflow of €15.6 million last year.

Equity capital from abroad increased by €90.6 million while reinvested earnings showed a net increase of €173.4 million during 2011. There was also an increase of €107.1 million in other capital.

The main contributors to the increase in FDI net inflows during 2011 were enterprises active in financial and insurance activities as well as those in manufacturing, making up 85.2 per cent of total increases.

The outward direct investment position for 2011 remained at the level of the previous year, estimated at €1.3 billion. Investments in the EU accounted for 60 per cent of the figure.