Net foreign direct investments (FDI) into the Philippines rose in May, with inflows from the United States and the manufacturing sector driving the increase, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

The BSP reported that net FDI inflows grew by 21.3 percent year-on-year, climbing to US$586-million from $483-million in May 2024.

Non-residents’ net investments

The surge was largely due to an 88.3 percent expansion in non-residents’ net investments in debt instruments, which rose to $427-million from $22-million in the same period last year. Reinvestment of earnings remained stable at $97-million.

These gains, however, were tempered by a steep 61.4 percent drop in nonresidents’ net investments in equity capital, which slid to $62- million from $161-million.

Equity capital placements in May 2025 came primarily from the United States, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. The bulk of these investments went to manufacturing, real estate, and the electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply industries.

Despite the strong May performance, overall FDI inflows in the first five months of 2025 remained in the red, falling by 26.9 percent to $3.0-billion from $4.0- billion in the same period last year.