{"id":461334,"date":"2026-05-22T06:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T06:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/461334\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T06:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T06:52:09","slug":"ireland-ranks-in-europes-top-10-for-fdi-attractiveness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/461334\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland ranks in Europe’s top 10 for FDI attractiveness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ireland remains an attractive location for foreign direct investment<\/a> despite a wider decline in inbound investment to Europe, the latest EY<\/a> European Attractiveness Survey shows.<\/p>\n

In a survey of investors, Ireland ranked 10th for FDI attractiveness as overall investment held steady. <\/p>\n

The country attracted 75 FDI projects last year, matching 2024 levels, with the US accounting for half (53%) of inbound investment, considerably higher than the 19% average.<\/p>\n

By total FDI projects, Ireland placed 15th in Europe, up two places from 2024, and 10th on a per-population basis. <\/p>\n

Around four in 10 (41%) projects were located outside of Dublin.<\/p>\n

Ireland also ranked 10th in Europe by investors in terms of FDI attractiveness for 2026, with investors pointing to a range of factors that make Ireland an attractive location for future FDI investment. <\/p>\n

They include Ireland’s EU location and the access to new markets and customers this brings, competitive tax policy (most notably the R&D tax credit<\/a>), talent, language and cultural ties to North America in particular.<\/p>\n

In contrast, inward investment to Europe fell to a 10-year low in 2025, declining 7% year-on-year, and total projects across the continent in 2025 (5,023) were 22% lower than the 2019 pre-pandemic level (6,412). <\/p>\n

Major markets such as France (-17%), the UK (-14%) and Germany (-10%) saw double-digit declines, and Germany’s role as an investor in other European countries weakened, falling 28%.<\/p>\n

While the number of projects from US investors in Europe stabilised during 2025, the total remains 38% below its 2019 peak, driven by industrial policy decisions of successive US administrations, perceptions by investors of weaker growth prospects, regulatory complexity, higher operating costs and policy fragmentation. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Software and IT services (33) was Ireland\u2019s leading FDI sector during 2025, with the number of projects doubling versus 2024, and the sector accounted for more than 40% of the year\u2019s total. Business services (14) and financial services (9) projects were the next two largest FDI sectors in Ireland.<\/p>\n

Research and development projects (R&D) accounted for 25% of Irish investments, far ahead of the total European share of 7%, confirming Ireland\u2019s position as a leading knowledge economy with a strong capacity to attract innovation-driven investment and supported by an internationally competitive R&D tax credit regime. <\/p>\n

Ireland was also rated highly as a location for AI investment, innovation and deployment. However, the research also identified risks to Ireland\u2019s future attractiveness. <\/p>\n

Ireland is perceived as having challenges in terms of infrastructure, and the cost of energy, labour and other inputs. <\/p>\n

Infrastructure constraints were the top-rated risk affecting Ireland\u2019s future attractiveness, rising from sixth in the previous year\u2019s survey.<\/p>\n

The number of defence-related FDI projects in Europe increased 84%, responsible for almost 7,000 new jobs, and was strongest in the UK, France and Ukraine.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

FDI in the low\u2011carbon energy sector increased by 25% in 2025, reinforcing Europe\u2019s attractiveness as a leading destination for green investment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, foreign investment declined in parts of Europe\u2019s core industrial sectors in 2025, reflecting persistent structural issues, rising production costs, high energy prices and intensifying global competition. <\/p>\n

Healthcare manufacturing projects declined by 28%, chemicals fell 19% and automotive projects fell 11%.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn what was another challenging year for FDI in Europe, holding our own is a strong outcome for Ireland, as is the continued strength of investor sentiment towards Ireland,” said Fergal de Freine, partner and head of FDI at EY Ireland.<\/p>\n

“Our performances in software and R&D in particular highlight our enduring advantage in these fields, while Ireland was also rated highly as a location for AI investment, innovation and deployment.<\/p>\n

“However, the broader European trend points towards a structural shift in global FDI investment that has been underway for several years now, as countries utilise industrial policy to aggressively court investment.<\/p>\n

\"FDI\"Fergal de Freine, partner at EY.<\/p>\n

“Events over the past 12 to 18 months have accelerated this agenda, and businesses and policymakers are seeking to navigate disruption across a range of fields simultaneously, including geopolitical risk, economic shock and technological disruption.”<\/p>\n

Some 54% of leaders still plan to establish or expand operations in Europe over the coming year. This is above 2022 (53%) and 2021 (40%) levels, signalling continued underlying confidence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Pic: Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ireland remains an attractive location for foreign direct investment despite a wider decline in inbound investment to Europe,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":272263,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-461334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/272263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}