Mexico again hosts more US investment than China
US direct investment position by host country, historical-cost basis, US$ billion, 2014–2025.
- 1. Mexico, not China, now sells America the most goods
- 2. China's ASEAN trade is now almost double its US trade
- 3. America's duty-free parcels grew almost tenfold in nine years
- 4. Mexico's factories now outproduce Britain's and France's
- 5. The UAE sold more goods abroad than France in 2025
- 6. The EU now buys more US gas than Russian gas
- 7. Malaysia again sells more to America than to China
- 8. Brazil mines 93% of the world's niobium
- 9. More Vietnamese now work in industry than on farms
- 10. Indonesia set to use more palm oil than it exports
- 11. Factories now make more of Cambodia's economy than China's
- 12. China now buys more from Brazil than from Germany
- 13. Kazakhstan now sells Russia more than Germany does
- 14. China fell to third among America's suppliers in 2025
- 15. America overtook China as Taiwan's biggest export market
- 16. Mongolia's coal exports hit a record 90 million tonnes
- 17. Viet Nam's ports now handle more containers than Japan's
- 18. Liberia overtook Panama as the biggest flag by ship capacity
- 19. Nickel made Indonesia the world's fifth-biggest iron and steel exporter
- 20. Mexico again hosts more US investment than China
US firms' direct investment in Mexico in 2025, up 52% since 2020.
growth in China since 2020, to $120.5bn: five flat years.
the year Mexico retook the lead it lost in 2017; the gap is now $48bn.
the numbers & method
| Year | Mexico (bn) | China (bn) |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 94.5 | 82.2 |
| 2015 | 101.3 | 92.2 |
| 2016 | 98.4 | 97.5 |
| 2017 | 100.2 | 105.1 |
| 2018 | 95.5 | 107.6 |
| 2019 | 106.4 | 109.3 |
| 2020 | 110.8 | 116.5 |
| 2021 | 119.9 | 116.0 |
| 2022 | 128.3 | 116.3 |
| 2023 | 135.9 | 116.5 |
| 2024 | 155.9 | 112.0 |
| 2025 | 168.8 | 120.5 |
Claim types Fact
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, "Balance of Payments and Direct Investment Position Data": US direct investment position abroad on a historical-cost basis, by country (Major Countries), year-end, US$ millions (release 21 Jul 2026); 2025 values preliminary. 2025: Mexico 168,849; China 120,547; all countries 7,135,807. 2020: Mexico 110,753; China 116,508. Chart values rounded to 0.1 bn. Positions are recorded against the country of the affiliate the US parent deals with directly, so investment routed through hubs is counted there; Hong Kong is shown separately ($103.7bn in 2025, not in China's figure). Derived: % changes, crossing years and the $48bn gap computed by progrss. BEA data are US government work; credit BEA, not endorsed or certified by BEA. Licence: open (commercial ok).
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