Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into Malta fell sharply in 2025, dropping to €10.7 billion from €32.6 billion a year earlier, according to new National Statistics Office data.

Outward flows stood at €12.9 billion, down from €23.1 billion in 2024.

These figures largely reflect Malta’s role in international financial and corporate structures, rather than investment in physical assets or business operations on the ground.

Annual fluctuations are common, with FDI inflow standing at €21.8 billion in 2023 before rising to €32.6 billion in 2024 and dropping to €10.7 billion in 2025. 

Investment flows abroad stood at €20.1 billion in 2023 before rising to €23.1 billion in 2024 and dropping to €12.9 billion in 2025.

As of the end of 2025, Malta’s stock of inward FDI rose to €493.1 billion while its outward direct investment position reached €463.9 billion.

This means that foreign companies, individuals and other entities hold €493.1 billion worth of ownership stakes and financial claims in Maltese-registered businesses. At the same time, Maltese-registered entities hold €463.9 billion in similar cross-border investments abroad.

Much of these figures reflect how multinational groups structure their operations and Malta’s role in the global financial world.

For example, an international investment firm might establish a €10 billion fund in Malta, with that capital recorded as foreign investment into Malta. 

If that fund then invests the €10 billion into companies in Germany, the UK or the US, it is simultaneously recorded as Maltese investment abroad.

In this way, Malta can show very large inward and outward investment positions, dwarfing its own GDP (which stood at around €24.6 billion in 2025), even if the underlying businesses operate in other countries.