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Profits of multinational firms abroad: measurement and impact on their home country

Laurence Nayman
Vincent Vicard

This panorama measures the national income linked to the activity abroad of multinational enterprises, recorded in the foreign direct investment (FDI) income item of the balance of payments. These FDI income flows have been more dynamic than the other current account items (goods, services, other primary income and secondary income) so that their share in world flows doubled between 1995 and 2015. They contribute positively to the current account balance of high-income countries, but negatively to that of the rest of the world. As a result, they add to the gross national income (GNI) of high-income countries. The predominant role of tax havens in FDI income flows underlines the significance of tax issues in the measurement and analysis of multinationals activity.

Related articles and documents :

World current transactions breakdown by item groupings, 1995-2015 (average of credits and debits in % of total)

World primary income breakdown by sub-items, 1995-2015 (average of credits and debits in % of primary income and billions of dollars)

World FDI income breakdown by sub-items, 1995-2015 (average of credits and debits in % of FDI income and billions of dollars)

FDI income breakdown by country groupings, 1995-2015 (average of credits and debits, in % of total)

Main countries of origin and destination of FDI income in 2015 (in millions of dollars)

World trade in business services in five sub-items, 1995-2015 (in % of total)

FDI income and current transactions balances by country groupings, 1995-2015 (billions of dollars)

Main gains and deficits of FDI income by country in 2015 (in billions of dollars)

FDI income balances of EU countries, cumulated on 2000-2015 (in billions of dollars)

Balances of the goods, services and FDI income accounts by country groupings, cumulated on 2000-2007 and 2010-2015 periods (in billions of dollars)

FDI income balances by sub-item and country groupings, cumulated on 2000-2007 and 2010-2015 periods (in billions of dollars)

GNI and FDI income balance in % of GDP, high income countries and rest of the world, 1995-2015 (in %)