Philippine FDI inflows hit over 5-year low in September

Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the Philippines experienced a 25.8% year-on-year decline in September 2025, reaching their lowest point in over five years at $320 million.

This figure is a decrease from $432 million in September 2024 and is the lowest monthly inflow recorded since April 2020.

On a month-on-month basis, FDI inflows dropped significantly by 60.62% from $514 million in August 2025.

For the first nine months of 2025, cumulative FDI inflows decreased by 22.2% to $5.537 billion, down from $7.118 billion in the same period last year.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that Japan was the primary source of FDI in the first three quarters, with manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, and real estate being the main recipient industries.

Despite the recent slump, the BSP maintains its year-end forecast for net FDI inflows to reach $7.5 billion.