According to data from greenfield investment monitor fDi Markets, outward German FDI has decreased by 21% in the first five months of 2012, compared with the same period in 2011. Between January and May 2012, 390 such projects were recorded compared with 493 in the same period in 2011. So far in 2012, May has been the most active month with 85 projects recorded.

A total of 266 German companies have made outward investments in 2012, compared with 353 companies in the first five months of 2011. The average capital expenditure per project has been $39.1m, a 35% decline from the $60.8m average in the same period in 2011. However, there has only been a slight drop in the average number of jobs created, from 159 to 151.

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There is no change in the top five destination countries for German outward FDI in the first five months of 2012 compared with the same period in 2011. The US is the top destination, followed by China, the UK, India and Russia. However, Poland, Hungary and Austria, which were the sixth, eighth and ninth most popular destination countries, respectively, in the first five months of 2011, have been replaced in 2012 by Romania, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates.

Some of the most significant investments by German companies in 2012 include the $24.66m investment by cable manufacturer Leoni into a manufacturing project in Hanoi, Vietnam. Announced in April 2012, the project will create 2500 jobs. In the same month DHL, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post, announced plans to invest $53.28m in the transportation sector in Lombardia, Italy, in a project that will create 500 jobs. 

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