Czech Republic
13. Foreign Direct Investment and Foreign Portfolio Investment Statistics
| Host Country Statistical source* | USG or international statistical source | USG or International Source of Data: BEA; IMF; Eurostat; UNCTAD, Other | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economic Data | Year | Amount | Year | Amount | |
| Host Country Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ($M USD) | 2020 | $258,002 | 2019 | $250,681 | www.worldbank.org/en/country |
| Foreign Direct Investment | Host Country Statistical source* | USG or international statistical source | USG or international Source of data: BEA; IMF; Eurostat; UNCTAD, Other | ||
| U.S. FDI in partner country ($M USD, stock positions) | 2019 | $1,727.6 | 2019 | $4,815 | BEA data available at https://www.bea.gov/international/ direct-investment-and-multinational- enterprises-comprehensive-data |
| Host country’s FDI in the United States ($M USD, stock positions) | 2019 | $717.7 | 2019 | N/A | BEA data available at https://www.bea.gov/international/ direct-investment-and-multinational- enterprises-comprehensive-data |
| Total inbound stock of FDI as % host GDP | 2019 | 65.3% | 2019 | 69.2% | UNCTAD data available at https://unctad.org/en/Pages/DIAE/ World%20Investment%20Report/ Country-Fact-Sheets.aspx |
| *Sources: Czech Statistical Office (www.czso.cz), Czech National Bank (https://www.cnb.cz/cnb/obiee_pzi). | |||||
As of 2015, the Czech National Bank records cross-border equity capital stocks for quoted shares (in line with the ESA 2010 and BPM6 international manuals) at market value instead of book value, rather than valuing FDI as the sum of historical flows, which is the methodology used by the United States. This explains the large discrepancy between U.S. and Czech figures for 2019.
| Direct Investment from/in Counterpart Economy Data | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From Top Five Sources/To Top Five Destinations (US Dollars, Millions) | |||||
| Inward Direct Investment | Outward Direct Investment | ||||
| Total Inward | 170,044 | 100% | Total Outward | 44,075 | 100% |
| Netherlands | 30,914 | 18% | Netherlands | 13,838 | 31% |
| Luxembourg | 30,306 | 18% | Luxembourg | 10,197 | 23% |
| Germany | 25,973 | 15% | Slovakia | 3,875 | 9% |
| Austria | 17,432 | 10% | Cyprus | 3,417 | 8% |
| France | 11,940 | 7% | United Kingdom | 3,147 | 7% |
| “0” reflects amounts rounded to +/- USD 500,000. | |||||
The IMF rankings for the top five sources and destinations of FDI stock are consistent with data from the Czech National Bank. IMF and Czech National Bank figures for inward direct investment vary by up to 4 percent and figures for outward direct investment vary by up to 16 percent. These statistical distortions are a result of the global adoption of the revised OECD Benchmark Definition for FDI, which is designed to discount investment flows from special purpose entities.
The top sources and destinations of Czech FDI represent a combination of major EU trading partners and favored tax regimes. In the early 1990s, the Netherlands became a popular location for corporate registration for domestic and foreign businesses active in the Czech Republic. In recent years, the main rationale for registering a business in the Netherlands was favorable corporate income taxes, stimulating rapid development of offshore corporate structures in the Czech Republic. While this has dissipated (corporate income tax rates in the Czech Republic and Netherlands are nearly equal), the Netherlands remains a popular platform for large corporations given its robust network of investment agreement protections. Luxembourg attracts Czech businesses for similar reasons. Among other FDI partner countries, Cyprus offers one of the lowest corporate income tax rates in the EU (currently 12.5 percent) and tax exemption of dividends.
| Portfolio Investment Assets | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top Five Partners (Millions, current US Dollars) | ||||||||
| Total | Equity Securities | Total Debt Securities | ||||||
| All Countries | 32,450 | 100% | All Countries | 18,067 | 100% | All Countries | 14,384 | 100% |
| Luxembourg | 6,093 | 19% | Luxembourg | 5,056 | 28% | Netherlands | 2,063 | 14% |
| United States | 3,823 | 12% | United States | 2,770 | 15% | Slovakia | 2,046 | 14% |
| Austria | 3,419 | 11% | Belgium | 2,068 | 11% | Austria | 1,832 | 13% |
| Slovakia | 2,508 | 8% | Ireland | 1,588 | 9% | Poland | 1,507 | 10% |
| Netherlands | 2,297 | 7% | Austria | 1,587 | 9% | United States | 1,052 | 7% |
The Czech National Bank does not provide its own statistical data on portfolio investments by individual countries but provides a reference to IMF data on its website. As far as portfolio investment assets for all countries, the 2019 IMF results are consistent with the Czech National Bank’s data.