Foreign direct investment in Lebanon, based on figures from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), amounted to $ 2.63 billion in 2017, with a marginal increase of 0.7% from $ 2.61 billion in 2016.
FDI flows include those flowing into the public sector, estimates of real estate investments for non-residents in Lebanon, FDI figures from the banking sector, and statistics from administrative records on foreign ownership of properties.
FDI in Lebanon in 2017 was 10.2% lower than the $ 2.93 billion investment rate between 2010 and 2016, and 40% less than the peak of $ 4.38 billion recorded in 2009. Lebanon was the fourth largest recipient of foreign direct investment in terms of nominal value between 18 Arab countries and the third largest among 12 countries in West Asia in 2017. Also, the 60 foreign direct investments were the highest among 136 economies with a gross domestic product of more than 10 billion dollars, except the Tax Haven.
Lebanon was one of 10 Arab countries that experienced a surge in foreign direct investment inflows in 2017 as per the results published in the weekly bulletin of Byblos Bank (Lebanon This Week). Lebanon recorded the third lowest progress in terms of foreign direct investment inflows among 16 Arab countries with positive inflows in Lebanon, last year.