The volume of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in the Sultanate grew by 7.7 per cent to reach RO17.08bn by the end of the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to RO15.86bn 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 RO1.22bn.

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 RO7,873.4mn followed by the United States (US) with RO2,220.9mn.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) came third with RO1,048.6mn, followed by Kuwait with RO937.6mn, China by RO862mn, Bahrain by RO375mn, and Qatar by RO313mn.

The oil and gas extraction sector accounted for the largest proportion of FDIs during 2021, with a value of RO11,833.9mn, constituting a rise by 15.08 per cent compared to the same period in 2020.

The financial intermediary sector came second with RO1,446.5mn, comprising a drop by 1.81 per cent compared to the same period in 2020, followed by converting industries with RO1,395.9mn and the real estate sector by RO1,147.3mn.

Other sectors came last with RO1,256.9mn, comprising a decline of 4.71 per cent compared to the same period in 2020.