Libya: Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP)

Key figures

Since 1970 it is down 5.17 percentage points from 6.89% in 1970. The World Bank has no value for 8 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2025, Libya's foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) rose 0.28 percentage points on 2024 (from 1.44% to 1.72%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1985 to 2024), the average change was +0.05 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.04 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 5.29 percentage points in 1976 and the biggest yearly fall was 5.55 percentage points in 1971. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2025, Libya had the 108th highest value of the 182 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Libya in the 2025 ranking

• Angola — 104th of 182: 1.81%
• Gabon — 105th of 182: 1.77%
• Belarus — 106th of 182: 1.76%
• Bahrain — 108th of 182: 1.68%
• Ghana — 109th of 182: 1.67%
• Philippines — 110th of 182: 1.67%

What this measures

Foreign direct investment is the net inflows of investment to acquire a lasting management interest (10 percent or more of voting stock) in an enterprise operating in an economy other than that of the investor. It is the sum of equity capital, reinvestment of earnings, other long-term capital, and short-term capital as shown in the balance of payments. This series shows net inflows (new investment inflows less disinvestment) in the reporting economy from foreign investors, and is divided by GDP.

Limitations: FDI data do not give a complete picture of international investment in an economy. Balance of payments data on FDI do not include capital raised locally, an important source of investment financing in some developing countries. In addition, FDI data omit nonequity cross-border transactions such as intra-unit flows of goods and services. The volume of global private financial flows reported by the World Bank generally differs from that reported by other sources because of differences in sources, classification of economies, and method used to adjust and disaggregate reported information.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 48 values

Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Afghanistan — 0.14% (2021)
• Algeria — 0.54% (2025)
• Bahrain — 1.68% (2025)
• Djibouti — 3.22% (2025)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 4.23% (2025)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 0.45% (2025)
• Iraq — -2.99% (2025)
• Israel — 4.3% (2025)
• Jordan — 3.28% (2025)
• Kuwait

More economic policy & debt data for Libya

• Total reserves, including gold (current US$) — US$104.66 billion (2025)
• Total reserves, excluding gold (current US$) — US$84.06 billion (2025)
• GDP (current US$) — US$48.1 billion (2025)
• GDP (current LCU) — 255.17 billion (2025)
• GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$64.4 billion (2025)
• GDP (constant LCU) — 96.66 billion (2025)
• GDP per capita (current US$) — US$6,449 (2025)
• GDP per capita (current LCU) — 34,212 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$8,634 (2025)
• GDP per capita (constant LCU) — 12,960 (2025)
• GNI (current US$) — US$49.92 billion (2025)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Libya's foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP)?

1.72% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1970?

It is down 5.17 percentage points from 6.89% in 1970. The highest value was 6.89% in 1970 and the lowest -3.92% in 1975.

How does Libya rank?

108th highest of 182 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) unusual for Libya?

In 2025, Libya's foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) rose 0.28 percentage points on 2024 (from 1.44% to 1.72%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1985 to 2024), the average change was +0.05 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.04 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator BX.KLT.DINV.WD.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Financial Statistics and Balance of Payments databases, International Monetary Fund (IMF); International Debt Statistics, World Bank (WB); World Bank GDP estimates, World Bank (WB); OECD GDP estimates, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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