Greenfield investment monitor fDi Markets has recorded a year-on-year decline of total FDI from the US into Latin America and the Caribbean between 2013 and 2015. During 2013, 460 such investment projects into the region were recorded, a figure which fell by 15% the following year. The trend continued in 2015 when 368 projects from the US into the region were recorded, a decline of 5.88% on 2014 figures.

The top two destination countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region for US companies were Mexico and Brazil, which together accounted for 56.19% of their FDI in the region, though that figure fell by 23.37% between 2013 and 2015. This represented 66.30% of the total drop experienced in the region.

Advertisement

Capital investment from the US into Latin America and the Caribbean has also declined during this period. Some $29.6bn was invested in 2013, which fell year-on-year by 28.85% in 2015. Similarly, capital investment per project has also fallen from $64.4m in 2013 to $57.2m in 2015. This indicates that companies are investing in smaller projects, with business services sector projects accounting for 9.35% of US projects into the region in 2013, and 11.96% in 2015.

Job numbers up

Jobs creation by US investment into Latin America and the Caribbean recovered during 2015, increasing by 15.55% from 2014 figures. However, over the 2013 to 2015 period, fDi Markets still recorded a decrease of 8.51%. Looking at the first five months of 2016 suggests that this downward trend is set to continue.

In the January to May 2015 period, 161 projects from the US into Latin America and the Caribbean were recorded. This has remained at 161 for the same period in 2016. However, capital investment and jobs created have seen decreases of 14.73% and 12.05% respectively when comparing the two time periods.

Find out more about