EU business investment rate fell to its lowest level in a decade in Q4 2025

The European Union business investment rate stood at 21.8% in the fourth quarter of last year, its lowest rate since Q3 2015, according to new data from Eurostat.

The business investment rate measures the share of value added that companies allocate to fixed assets such as buildings, machinery and software, and is calculated as gross fixed capital formation relative to gross value added.

The latest figures indicate a continued downward trend in corporate investment across the EU, following on from a steady rise recorded during the mid part of the last decade.

Between 2014 and 2018, the rate increased steadily from around 22% to nearly 24%, reflecting a period of stronger capital spending. However, from 2021 onwards, the trend has reversed, with investment levels declining almost continuously through to the end of 2025.

Business investment rate

On a country-by-country basis, the latest available data (from 2024) indicates that the highest business investment rate is in Hungary (28.4%), followed by Croatia (28.3%), Czechia (27.6%), Belgium (27.0%) and Sweden (26.9%).

The lowest business investment rate, meanwhile, was recorded in Luxembourg (15.9%), closely followed by Ireland (16.0%), Cyprus (16.0%), the Netherlands (16.7%) and Malta (16.8%).

No data was available for Bulgaria. Due to limited reporting obligations for small economies, only large and medium EU countries are required to provide quarterly data, which therefore are not available for Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia and Slovakia, Eurostat noted. Read more here.

Business Investment Rate by EU Member State – 2024 (%)

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