By the end of 2023, the stock of foreign direct investments from European Union countries in Albania reached almost Euro 6 billion. This figure includes the total investments that have been made in years by different EU countries.

The data is disclosed in the Eurostat database. Only in 2023, foreign investments from EU countries in Albania were Euro 457 million.

Local business news provider “Monitor" has compared the stock of foreign investments from the EU in the countries of the region, about the size of the relevant economy (gross domestic product-GDP) to see which country has managed to attract more investments in the transition period.

North Macedonia had the highest level of foreign investments, whose stock was 29.3% of GDP at the end of 2023. North Macedonia has often won the foreign investment race with Albania in recent years, offering a simpler fiscal system, free economic zones, tax relief, and even advertising access to the sea from the Port of Durrës. Many companies that tried to enter Albania in recent years, such as the American company Johnson Control in the production of automotive parts, have opened several factories in Macedonia.

Not only foreign investments but also many Albanian entrepreneurs were lured by Macedonia's policies for attracting foreign investments.

Serbia is the second country that has managed to attract more foreign investments from EU countries, also "taking" investors who had shown interest in Albania, such as "Geox" or "Ferrero Rocher".

Montenegro ranks third in the region, with 26.2% of GDP. While Albania, with 26% of the GDP, leaves behind only Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to Eurostat, the net stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) held in non-EU countries by EU resident investors reached Euro 9,160 billion in 2023, reflecting a decrease of 4.1% from 2022 (Euro 9,551 billion). A similar trend was evident in the stock of investments held by non-EU residents in the EU, which decreased to Euro 7,446 billion in 2023, a decrease of 5.4% compared to 2022 (Euro 7,874 billion).

In 2023, the EU's net investment position vis-a-vis the rest of the world remained relatively stable, with an increase of 2.2% compared to 2022.

At the end of 2023, the United States absorbed 26.6% (Euro 2,437 billion) of the total FDI stock held by the EU in the rest of the world, followed by the United Kingdom (Euro 1,765 billion, 19.3%). It was followed by Switzerland (Euro 755 billion, 8.2%), Brazil (Euro 312 billion, 3.4%), and Singapore (Euro 263 billion, 2.9%).