Investment in UK halves to £29bn

Inward foreign direct investment (FDI) to Britain fell by a half in 2009 to about $45bn (£29bn), according to the latest survey of FDI from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Outward investment, the sum spent by UK firms buying and investing overseas, plummeted from $161bn to $18.5bn – about the same size of acquisitions as Australia or Ireland. But global FDI flows showed a "modest recovery" in the first half of 2010, the UN panel said.

Global inflows are expected to pick up to more than $1.2 trillion in 2010, the rise further to $1.3trn to $1.5trn in 2011, and head towards $1.6trn to $2trn in 2012. But the UN warned that "FDI prospects are fraught with risks and uncertainties, including the fragility of the global economic recovery".