Where Foreign Investment Is Flowing in 2026
Key Takeaways
- Communications is the top sector for global foreign direct investment, attracting $139 billion in H1 2026.
- Data centers accounted for more than 94% of communications investment.
- Renewable energy attracted $73 billion, roughly $29 billion more than coal, oil, and gas.
Global investors announced roughly $538 billion in cross-border greenfield investments in the first half of 2026, with AI infrastructure emerging as a major driver of where that capital is flowing.
This visualization ranks the top 10 sectors for global foreign direct investment (FDI) from January to June 2026, using data from fDi Intelligence.
Only greenfield FDI is included, meaning investment in new projects and facilities. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and intercompany loans are excluded.
Why Communications Leads Global Investment
Businesses pledged $139.3 billion in new capital to the communications sector in the first half of 2026. That is nearly as much as the next three largest sectors combined.
The driving force is data centers, which attracted more than $131 billion in pledged investment.
The table below ranks the world’s 10 largest greenfield FDI sectors in the first half of 2026.
| Rank | Sector | Capital Expenditure (billions $) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Communications | 139.3 |
| 2 | Renewable energy | 73.3 |
| 3 | Coal, oil, and gas | 44.7 |
| 4 | Semiconductors | 38.8 |
| 5 | Transportation & Warehousing | 24.9 |
| 6 | Real estate | 23.9 |
| 7 | Metals | 23.7 |
| 8 | Industrial equipment | 14.6 |
| 9 | Electronic components | 13.7 |
| 10 | Software & IT services | 13.7 |
Businesses are pouring billions into data centers to support the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) boom. This digital infrastructure provides the computing power required to train and run large AI models.
Nearly a quarter of pledged FDI in data centers comes from a single transaction. In May 2026, SoftBank committed more than $50 billion to data center investment in France. The Japanese tech firm plans to deliver 3.1 gigawatts of data center capacity in the country beginning in 2031.
This would reportedly be the largest investment of its kind in Europe.
Energy Investment Follows the Data Center Boom
The AI infrastructure buildout is also spilling into energy. Renewable energy and fossil fuels ranked second and third for greenfield FDI as new data centers increase demand for large, reliable sources of electricity.
Renewables attracted $73.3 billion in new capital investment. Solar power drew the most pledged FDI within the sector, followed by hydrogen and emerging clean technologies, as well as wind. Renewable investment has pulled back slightly in 2026, partly due to lower prioritization by U.S. firms. The U.S. is the world’s top FDI source.
Meanwhile, coal, oil, and gas attracted $44.7 billion in greenfield FDI despite turbulence in major hydrocarbon-producing regions such as the Persian Gulf. Roughly 75% of this investment came from a new natural gas plant in Ohio that is being developed to serve a nearby data center under construction.
How AI Runs Through the Rest of the Ranking
The influence of AI and digital infrastructure extends through much of the remainder of the top 10 sectors for global FDI.
Semiconductors, for example, attracted $38.8 billion in FDI, well below the $138 billion seen across all of 2025. One major pledge came in January 2026, when American chipmaker Micron committed to investing $24 billion in chip production in Singapore.
Companies also allocated $24.9 billion to transportation and warehousing, with a majority of this investment going toward freight and distribution.
Taken together, the ranking shows how the AI investment boom extends well beyond data centers themselves. Semiconductors, power generation, electronic components, industrial equipment, and software all appear among the top sectors, highlighting the scale of infrastructure being built around rising demand for computing power.
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To see which developing countries are attracting the most FDI, check out The Best Emerging Markets to Invest In, According to fDi Intelligence on Voronoi.
