BWC Member Gary Kleiman published a new piece examining the persistent data gaps in how the world measures foreign direct investment, building on the FDI-portfolio correlation analysis in his 2025 book, Emerging Economies and Financial Markets. Drawing on UNCTAD’s newly released 2025 investment survey, Kleiman unpacks a mixed picture for developing economies; FDI still accounts for roughly half of their capital inflows (ahead of remittances at 30% and aid/portfolio flows at 10% each), and headline FDI to this cohort ticked up 2% to $900 billion. But that modest gain masks an 18% drop in greenfield investment, even as infrastructure-focused project finance rose 20%.

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