Direct foreign investment in Israel totaled $26.2 billion in 2025, the highest ever annual figure, and 78% higher than the $14.8 billion total for 2024. The figures are from a report released last week by the Chief Economist’s Department at the Ministry of Finance, based on OECD data and on an independent database of deals maintained by the department.
Direct foreign investment last year was 14% higher than the previous peak, recorded in 2021, which was a boom year for Israel’s technology industry. Investment that year totaled $22.9 billion.
Israel was ranked eighth among the OECD countries last year for direct foreign investment in absolute terms, and third in terms of direct foreign investment as a proportion of GDP.
The rise in Israel last year stands out against the reverse trend among the developed countries. Global cross-border investment grew by 6% in 2025 to $1.43 trillion, but among the OECD countries it fell by 6%. The US recorded an 8% drop, to $259 billion.
According to the OECD, the trend in Israel continued into the beginning of 2026. In the first quarter of this year, direct foreign investment amounted to $14.1 billion, more than half the total amount for 2025, and the highest quarterly figure ever recorded in Israel.
Fewer deals, more money
The impressive overall picture hides a high degree of concentration. According to information from the chief economist’s database, which uses a different methodology from that of the OECD, the value of inward investment deals last year totaled $36.6 billion, 65% higher than in 2024 and slightly higher than the $36.2 billion recorded in the previous peak year of 2021. The number of deals, however, fell by 4%, from 1,643 in 2024 to 1,575 last year.
In comparison with 2021, when there were 2,890 deals, the number almost halved last year. In other words, the peak in 2025 did not result from broad growth in investment activity, but from a fairly small number of very large deals. The most significant of them was the acquisition of cybersecurity company Wiz by Google for $32 billion. The Ministry of Finance estimates that the part of the deal proceeds that actually entered the Israeli economy amounted to $16.8 billion. The acquisition of CyberArk by Palo Alto Networks for $25 billion contributed about $2.5 billion to the local economy, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The concentration is also observable in the breakdown by sector. Software and information technology accounted for 90% of the value of the deals, some $33 billion. Even if the Wiz deal is excluded, this sector accounted for 80% of total direct inward investment. Life sciences and healthcare was the second largest sector, attracting just $1.3 billion.
The US was the source of investment worth $32.1 billion, nearly 90% of the total value of the deals as calculated by the Ministry of Finance. Investment from Europe fell from $6.5 billion in 2024 to just $2.5 billion in 2025. Investment from the UK plummeted by more than 80% to $520 million, while investment from Germany totaled $987 million.
The 2026 first-quarter figures also illustrate the effect of the giant deals. According to the Ministry of Finance database, the value of deals in that period totaled $6 billion, 70% less than the total for the corresponding quarter of 2025, which included the Wiz deal. Excluding that deal, there was a rise of 76%.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on September 7, 2026.
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