Cambodia's cumulative FDI outflow $1.7 bn until 2024 end: UNCTAD

The country’s outward FDI stock crossed $1 billion in 2019 and since then has added $742 million until the end of last year. The FDI outflow stood at $127 million in 2020, and dropped to $92 million in 2021. In 2022, it increased to $150 million.

Consistency has been maintained in 2023 and 2024, with outward FDI standing at $151 million and $172 million respectively.

The ratio of the net outward FDI flow and the gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 3.7 per cent in 2024—up from 3.4 per cent in 2020, according to the report.

There were no cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) last year, while 2023 saw five M&As. The year 2022 recorded a whopping 35 M&As involving Cambodian firms and entrepreneurs, the report said.

An Asian Development Bank (ADB) Economics Working Paper Series said the country’s inward FDI crossed $52 billion last year, which is a remarkable increase from $37 billion recorded in 2020.

Cambodia attracted $5.8 billion in the first half of 2025 in inward FDI, a year-on-year (YoY) increase of 77 per cent, according to the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC).

The country approved 373 investment projects during the January-June period this year—up by 96 per cent from 190 projects in the same period last year, creating approximately 255,000 jobs, CDC said.

China was still the top foreign investor in the country, with others being Singapore, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, the United States, Samoa and South Korea.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)