• According to the analysis conducted by InvestChile, this is the third highest figure for the period in the last 20 years.

Chile’s Central Bank reported new data indicating that foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows reached US$8.11 billion to April of this year. In April alone, foreign direct investment inflows to Chile reached US$2.06 billion.

The accumulated figure between January and April 2023 is the third highest for this period in the 2003-2023 historic data series. Despite this, FDI inflows to April were 11% lower than in the previous year, due to the high basis for comparison in recent years (when FDI inflows reached record levels).

The largest component of FDI inflows between January and April was share capital, accounting for US$6.51 billion, following by reinvested profits, which accounted for US$4.94 billion. Meanwhile, debt instruments reported a negative inflow of US$3.33 billion, resulting from amortizations being higher than new issues.

InvestChile also noted that all of these figures are preliminary, and will be reviewed by the Central Bank on August 18.

Foreign investment remains at healthy levels

InvestChile Director, Karla Flores, noted that foreign investment inflows are dynamic, and the year-on-year decrease to April is not an indicator of future FDI inflows for the rest of this year. “The high basis for comparison resulted in a year-on-year decrease, despite receiving FDI inflows of over US$2 billion in April alone. However, FDI inflows from January to April were the third highest that we have on record, and the three highest amounts have occurred in the last three years,” explained Flores.

“This dynamism confirms to us that foreign companies continue to trust in Chile to develop their projects. At InvestChile, we will continue working to maintain positive foreign investment trends,” added InvestChile’s director.