Key Findings of the 2001 SIMSDI Update
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2.1 The results of the 2001 SIMSDI update show that there have been marked improvements in both the availability of FDI statistics, particularly position data, and in the application of a number of the recommendations of the international standards for compilation of FDI statistics. However, there are still areas where the majority of countries do not yet follow the international standards. Box 2.1 summarizes (1) the areas where there have been marked improvements since 1997; (2) the areas where more than 75 percent of the 61 countries that participated in the 2001 update now follow the international standards applicable to their economies at present; and (3) areas where, despite improvements, the majority of the 61 countries do not yet follow the international recommendations.
2.2 There has been a significant increase since the 1997 survey in the number of countries disseminating FDI statistics. The increases are most marked for the countries that are not OECD members, 1 for FDI position data, and for inward FDI income data. In the four years between the 1997 SIMSDI survey and the 2001 update, an additional 13 countries began to report inward position data, an additional 9 countries began to report data on inward FDI financial flows, and 8 additional countries began to report data to the IMF on inward FDI income. A similar improvement was seen for the outward FDI statistics (FDI abroad), with an additional 14 countries reporting data on positions, an additional 10 countries reporting data on financial flows, and an additional 6 countries reporting data on income. Moreover, within the FDI income data, an additional 10 countries now report inward FDI income on equity, an additional 11 now report inward reinvested earnings, and an additional 10 now report inward FDI income on debt. (Tables 3.1 and 5.2 in the main body of this report give further details of the changes since 1997, including the split between the OECD and other countries. Tables 1, 2, and 23 of Appendix I give information on the practices of the individual countries in 2001.)
2.3 During the same period, there was a marked increase in the compilation of data showing geographic breakdowns, particularly for the FDI financial flows data, and the position data. An additional 11 countries now compile data showing geographic breakdowns for the inward FDI financial flows and an additional 13 countries for the outward FDI financial flows. Similar improvements were seen for the FDI position data, with an additional 11 countries compiling geographic breakdowns for the inward positions, and an additional 12 for the outward positions. The increases in the number of countries that compile breakdowns for the FDI income data were not as marked-seven for the inward data and five for the outward data. (See Table 3.10 and Table 11 of Appendix I for further details.)
2.4 The compilation of data showing breakdowns by industrial sectors also increased markedly in the four years between the 1997 survey and the 2001 update. For the inward FDI statistics, an additional 11 countries began to compile industrial breakdowns for...
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