Ranked: The Countries Investors Trust Most in 2026
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Key Takeaways
- Canada rose to the world’s #2 preferred destination for FDI, overtaking China.
- Japan climbed from sixth to third place over the past decade.
- Saudi Arabia entered the global top 10 for the first time as Gulf economies attract AI and infrastructure investment.
Global investors are rethinking where capital flows over the next decade.
According to Kearney’s 2026 Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index, Canada and Japan have climbed sharply in investor rankings, while China has slipped from second to fourth place since 2016.
At the same time, Gulf economies like Saudi Arabia and the UAE are emerging as major investment hubs as they pour billions into AI infrastructure, logistics, and industrial diversification.
This graphic compares the world’s top investment destinations in 2016 versus 2026, based on a survey of 507 senior executives on where they expect to invest over the next three years.
How Global Investment Rankings Changed Since 2016
The biggest shift in the rankings is China’s decline from #2 to #4 over the past decade, while Canada climbed into second place and Japan rose to third.
The rankings highlight a major reshuffling in investor confidence over the past decade.
| Rank 2016 |
Country | Score | Rank 2026 |
Country | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  U.S. |
2.02 | 1 | U.S. |
2.24 |
| 2 |  China |
1.82 | 2 |  Canada |
2.14 |
| 3 | Canada |
1.80 | 3 |  Japan |
2.13 |
| 4 |  Germany |
1.75 | 4 | China |
2.11 |
| 5 |  UK |
1.73 | 5 | Germany |
2.11 |
| 6 | Japan |
1.73 | 6 | UK |
2.07 |
| 7 |  Australia |
1.63 | 7 |  France |
2.02 |
| 8 | France |
1.60 | 8 |  Singapore |
1.97 |
| 9 |  India |
1.60 | 9 |  UAE |
1.97 |
| 10 | Singapore |
1.57 | 10 |  Saudi Arabia |
1.97 |
| 11 |  Switzerland |
1.54 | 11 |  South Korea |
1.96 |
| 12 |  Brazil |
1.53 | 12 | Australia |
1.96 |
| 13 |  Spain |
1.51 | 13 |  Italy |
1.92 |
| 14 |  Netherlands |
1.51 | 14 | Switzerland |
1.84 |
| 15 |  Taiwan |
1.50 | 15 | Spain |
1.84 |
The UAE (#9) and Saudi Arabia (#10) now rank alongside investment powerhouses like Germany (#5) and the UK (#6).
This year, Saudi Arabia broke into the global top 10 for the first time. Increasingly, Gulf states are leveraging sovereign wealth and infrastructure spending to position themselves as tech and logistics hubs.
Why Canada Overtook China in Investor Confidence
Canada now ranks as the world’s second-most attractive destination for foreign investment, supported by its natural resources, political stability, and growing AI infrastructure spending.
In the first half of 2025, the country saw a record 297 FDI announcements. Strength in technological innovation also played a key role in investor confidence, likely bolstered by the federal government’s proposed $926 million budget for sovereign AI infrastructure.
In contrast, geopolitical tensions have weighed on China as an investment destination. More recently, however, economies like Canada and Kenya have pursued new trade deals with China amid a shifting global order.
The Middle East’s Growing Investment Pull
Saudi Arabia has rapidly climbed the rankings, breaking into the top 25 in 2023 before reaching #10 in 2026.
As the country seeks to diversify away from oil and gas revenues, it aims to attract $100 billion annually in FDI by 2030. Amazon Web Services (AWS) plans to spend $5.3 billion expanding data center infrastructure in Saudi Arabia by 2026. Meanwhile, Google Cloud is partnering with the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund to build an AI hub.
Similarly, the UAE has attracted major investment plans from Microsoft, Oracle, and AWS.
While conflict in the Middle East will likely strain regional economic growth, future investment flows may depend on the scale and duration of the war.
The New Geography of Global Investment
The countries climbing the rankings share a similar formula: political stability, long-term industrial investment, AI infrastructure spending, and access to critical resources and trade networks.
From Canada and Japan to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the next decade of foreign investment may be defined less by rapid growth alone and more by which economies can offer resilience, infrastructure, and long-term strategic advantage.
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To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on the world’s most productive countries.
- Source: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-worlds-top-economies-for-global-investment-in-2026/
