Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Cambodia has continued its positive momentum. In 2025, FDI exceeded $5 billion, representing an increase of nearly 20% compared to 2024, with investment capital from China accounting for more than 70%.
According to a report from the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), in 2025 total FDI inflow into the Kingdom was $5.2 billion, an increase of 18.2% over 2024. This was mainly supported by a 24% increase in investment in the non-financial sector (manufacturing rose by 50%, while the hotel and entertainment sector declined by 28.8%, construction by 7.7%, real estate by 23.2%, energy by 15.2%, agriculture by 4.7%, and other sectors by 29.5%). Meanwhile, investment in the financial sector fell by 12.8%.
“China continues to lead investment in Cambodia, accounting for 73% of total investment inflows, followed by Singapore at 7%, South Korea at 4%, Canada at 4%, Malaysia at 3% and others at 9%,” said the report.
Hong Vanak, an economist at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, told The Post on January 30 that the growth in FDI in Cambodia was reflected in the approval of more than 600 investment projects by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) in 2025. This also reflects the expansion of Cambodia’s supply chains connecting to global markets.
“The growth in foreign direct investment (FDI) demonstrates foreign investors’ confidence in Cambodia’s political stability, favourable investment laws, an abundant skilled workforce and improved transport infrastructure. In addition, Cambodian products are imported by many countries under special preferential customs and tariff schemes,” he said.
“Another factor is that Cambodian products respond to consumer demand. When we produce in response to consumer demand, it means that we have stability in production within our manufacturing supply chains,” he added.
For two consecutive years, Cambodia has ranked at the top of the FDI Stand Out Watch List as a leading emerging market for investment, according to FDI Intelligence in 2024.
In 2025, Cambodia continued to rank first in the Asia-Pacific region and ninth globally in the Greenfield FDI Performance Index, which measures the effectiveness of each country in attracting investment relative to the size of its economy.
