Muscat: The volume of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in the Sultanate of Oman grew by 7.7% to reach RO 17.08 billion by the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to RO 15.86 billion during the same period in 2020, according to the statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
Inflows of FDIs by the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 reached RO 1.22 billion.
The United Kingdom (UK) came at the forefront of FDI in Oman at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, with investments amounting to RO 7,873.4 million followed by the United States (US) with RO 2,220.9 million. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) came third with RO 1,048.6 million, followed by Kuwait with RO 937.6 million, China by RO 862 million, Bahrain by RO 375 million and Qatar by RO 313 million.
The oil and gas extraction sector accounted for the largest proportion of FDIs during 2021, with a value of RO 11,833.9 million, constituting a rise by 15.08% compared to the same period in 2020.
The financial intermediary sector came second with RO 1,446.5 million, comprising a drop by 1.81% compared to the same period in 2020, followed by converting industries with RO 1,395.9 million and real estate sector by RO 1,147.3 million. Other sectors came last with RO 1,256.9 million, comprising a decline by 4.71% compared to the same period in 2020.