Georgia has moved up the global foreign investment rankings, according to newly released data from the UN Trade and Development's (UNCTAD) World Investment Report 2026: International Investment in a Turbulent Era. The country attracted $1.7 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2025 - equal to 4.4% of GDP - placing it 40th out of 179 economies, up from 43rd a year earlier. Because larger economies naturally absorb larger absolute sums, the ranking measures investment relative to the size of each economy, which is what makes Georgia's position notable: it sits ahead of every one of its immediate neighbours. Armenia recorded inflows worth 2.1% of GDP, Russia 1%, Türkiye 0.8% and Azerbaijan 0.5%.
The sectoral breakdown is where the story becomes directly relevant to property. Financial services drew the largest share at $607 million, followed by real estate at $186 million and transport and warehousing at $166 million. The United Kingdom was the single biggest source country with $334 million, ahead of Türkiye ($181 million) and Malta ($174 million). Real estate holding second place among all sectors - in a year when global capital turned decisively selective - confirms what NEXT sees daily across its projects in Batumi, Tbilisi and beyond: international buyers continue to treat Georgian property as a yield-generating asset rather than a speculative one.
That selectivity is the defining theme of this year's UNCTAD report. Global FDI rose 6% to $1.6 trillion in 2025, but stripping out conduit flows through major European financial centres leaves growth at just 4%. Developed economies took in $723 billion, up 11%, while developing economies grew only 2% to $901 billion, and the top 20 host economies captured more than 80% of all inflows. Much of the increase came from a small number of megaprojects, particularly in AI-related digital infrastructure. In other words, capital is concentrating - and the markets that remain open, transparent and easy to enter are the ones still competing successfully for it.