China has overtaken the United Kingdom as a top investor as preliminary figures released by the National Statistics Office (Geostat) showed a 23.2% decrease in foreign direct investment (FDI) compared to the adjusted data for the same period in 2025.
According to the data released on September 8, FDI amounted to USD 468.8 million in Q2 2026, with Geostat attributing the decline mainly to a decrease in reinvestment. The data shows a surge in Chinese investment both compared to the same period in 2025 and the previous quarter, while investment from the UK nearly halved YoY, even if still growing by 135% compared to Q1 2026.
China was the largest foreign direct investor in Georgia in the second quarter, with investments reaching USD 219.5 million, or 46.8% of the total. This marked a USD 241.1 million year-on-year improvement, from a net outflow of USD 21.6 million in Q2 2025 to USD 219.5 million in Q2 2026. Chinese investment also surged quarter-on-quarter, rising from USD 16.4 million in Q1 2026 to USD 219.5 million in Q2, an increase of more than 1,200%.
The United Kingdom, which has been the top investor country in 2025 and Q1 2026, ranked second after China in Q2 with USD 123.5 million (26.3%), nearly halving year-on-year from USD 232.7 million in Q2 2025, while more than doubling compared to the previous quarter.
The UK was followed by the United Arab Emirates with USD 47.7 million (10.2%), marking a nearly tenfold year-on-year increase and an even sharper rise compared to the first quarter of 2026 (USD 3.9 million).
The three countries together accounted for 83.3% of total FDI, according to the preliminary data.
Equity investments amounted to USD 210.5 million, accounting for 44.9% of total FDI, while reinvestment of earnings reached USD 300.5 million, or 64.1%.
The financial and insurance activities sector attracted the largest share of FDI, receiving USD 207.6 million, or 44.3% of the total. Real estate activities ranked second with USD 119.9 million (25.6%), followed by manufacturing with USD 59 million (12.6%). Together, the three sectors accounted for 82.4% of total foreign direct investment.
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