Over the course of 2006, Brazilian outflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) exceeded inflows for the first time ever.

Brazilian investments abroad totaled US$28bn, putting the country in first place in Latin America in terms of outward investment, and in twelfth place in the world. Foreign investment in Brazil was US$18.8bn – nineteenth position in the global ranking in terms of inward investment, and second position (behind Mexico) in Latin America.

The figures come from the World Investment Report 2007 (WIR07), compiled by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). According to the report, Brazil’s ranking derives primarily from the purchase of the Canadian mining company Inco, for US$17bn, by Companhia Vale do Rio Doce.

The report also shows that Brazil has two of the world’s twenty-five biggest non-financial transnational corporations: Petrobras, in thirteenth place, and Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, in eighteenth.

Source: Agência Brasil and Embassy of Brazil in London