The rise in global economic activity over the past several decades has brought about a wave of international investments from US companies. Between 1982 and 2021, US direct investments abroad grew from $580 billion to more than $6.4 trillion dollars.
More US companies are investing abroad to take advantage of tax breaks, to get access to foreign markets, and to lower labor and manufacturing costs.
More than 60% of these investments go into European countries. And the top five countries account for about half of all US investments abroad.
