Countries by Gross fixed capital formation (current US$)

Ranking 2024

Analysis

Gross fixed capital formation measures the value of acquisitions less disposals of fixed assets during the accounting period, including certain specified expenditures on services that add to the value of non-produced assets. Values are expressed in current US dollars with no adjustment for price changes over time. The World Bank World Development Indicators publishes this data under indicator code NE.GDI.FTOT.CD. This ranking covers 173 countries, all meeting the threshold of 80 for coverage. Of these, 169 out of 173 countries (97.7%) have data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. The dataset identified 20 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold, and the average year-over-year change across the dataset is 12.9%. The 2024 data year has direct values for 152 of 173 countries (87.9%), with remaining entries drawing on the most recent available year.

The top of the ranking is heavily concentrated among the world's largest economies. China (rank 1) posts $7.47 trillion, nearly 20% above the United States (rank 2) at $6.24 trillion. India (rank 3, $1.17 trillion) and Japan (rank 4, $1.05 trillion) are separated from the top two by a factor of roughly five. Germany (rank 5, $958.7 billion), France (rank 6, $698.4 billion), the United Kingdom (rank 7, $688.1 billion), Korea (rank 8, $563.2 billion), Italy (rank 9, $527.4 billion), and Canada (rank 10, $507.0 billion) round out the top ten. Absolute values at this level reflect large populations, diversified industrial bases, and broad infrastructure activity, though the metric does not distinguish between those drivers.

The middle of the ranking includes notable placements worth attention. Saudi Arabia (rank 17, $354.9 billion) and Turkiye (rank 13, $425.6 billion) rank ahead of Spain (rank 18, $350.1 billion) despite smaller overall GDP profiles, reflecting elevated investment levels in those economies relative to peers. Bangladesh (rank 25, $138.2 billion) and Viet Nam (rank 24, $138.3 billion) place ahead of several European economies including Austria (rank 27, $125.9 billion) and Israel (rank 28, $122.6 billion). In the lower half, Puerto Rico (rank 74, $17.3 billion) appears as a non-sovereign territory between Cote d'Ivoire (rank 75) and Senegal (rank 84). At the bottom, countries such as Kiribati (rank 172, $73.3 million) and Marshall Islands (rank 173, $65.1 million) record values several orders of magnitude below any upper-tier country.

Current US dollar values make cross-country comparisons sensitive to exchange rate movements, which can shift a country's rank independently of any change in real investment activity. Countries with volatile currencies or recent devaluations may appear lower than their real investment levels would suggest. The metric counts acquisitions of fixed assets less disposals and certain service expenditures linked to non-produced assets, but it does not capture investment quality, productivity of assets acquired, or maintenance spending. Reporting methodologies and national accounts conventions vary across countries, which can affect comparability. The 20 extreme outliers flagged at the 3-sigma threshold suggest that a small number of values deviate substantially from the distribution, warranting caution when interpreting rankings near those entries. Data for 21 countries does not yet reflect the 2024 reference year.

Methodology

This ranking uses World Bank World Development Indicators data, indicator code NE.GDI.FTOT.CD, for the reference year 2024. The metric is defined as follows: gross fixed capital formation includes acquisitions less disposals of fixed assets during the accounting period, including certain specified expenditures on services that add to the value of non-produced assets. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars. The ranking covers 173 countries, exceeding the 80-country coverage threshold. Of those, 169 (97.7%) have data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints carry official data quality designation. Direct 2024 values are available for 152 of 173 countries (87.9%). The viability check identified 20 extreme outliers at the 3-sigma threshold, and the average year-over-year change across the dataset is 12.9%, well within the 50% volatility threshold. The value range spans from $65.1 million (Marshall Islands, rank 173) to $7.47 trillion (China, rank 1), a spread of approximately 11,472,753%. Higher values indicate greater gross fixed capital formation in absolute terms.

Sources

• World Bank