Trend · rank 23 of 250

Foreign investment slowdown & selectivity

Cross-border investment into many developing economies is falling as investors weigh political risk and screening more heavily, which reduces capital and technology transfer for nations lacking credible institutions and accessible markets.

Trade & InvestmentTrade, industry & supply chainstradegeoeconomicsdebt finance

Second pass: Carried forward from the first pass, where it was Foreign direct investment slowdown. Held by all three panel models.

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
23of 250
Sensitivity
15.8rank 40
Breadth
3of 20 scenarios High or above
PageRank
59.7rank 24
Eigenvector
3.6
Betweenness
54.0
Links
21trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
41.1

Attention over three years

How much this trend is read about on Wikipedia and searched for on Google, week by week, set against the typical trend in the list so that what moves every trend at once is taken out. 100 is this trend's own three-year average. The score measures public attention, which is not the same as the strength of the force: a trend can deepen unnoticed, and a news event can lift attention for a fortnight.

Now
102
Over a year
+3%Steady
Over three years
+15%
Peak
13922 Feb 2026
Sources
Bothagreement -0.70
Coverage
22languages · 58 nations

Trailing 4-week average. 100 is this trend’s three-year average.

By language

Wikipedia reading in each language edition where the trend’s pages are read enough to measure (22 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English53%85−8%
Spanish12%84−12%
Italian6%65−41%
French5%67−13%
Russian4%77−0%
German3%88+3%
Vietnamese3%51−44%
Chinese3%157+115%
Hindi2%60−32%
Japanese2%71−29%
Polish1%49−15%
Arabic1%55+9%
Portuguese1%106+27%
Bengali1%75−26%
Persian1%89+9%
Turkish1%87+1%
Ukrainian1%84+50%
Tamil0%163+82%
Malay0%69−35%
Korean0%113+23%
Indonesian0%79−25%
Dutch0%86−10%

By country

Google search interest over the three years, as a share of each country’s searching. 100 is the nation where interest is highest. The search terms are English, which favours countries that search in English.

Singapore

China

Ethiopia

Nepal

South Korea

United States

Philippines

Australia

United Arab Emirates

Kenya

Malaysia

Netherlands

100

68

66

60

60

38

37

34

34

33

33

32

The 12 highest of 58 nations with a reading.

By region and G20 member

Attention to this trend inside each place, from Google searches made in its countries and Wikipedia reading in the languages mostly read there, averaged where both exist. Each line compares the trend with its own past in that place; the lines do not compare places.

Regions

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
North AmericaGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in English92−17%+0%−5%
EuropeGoogle in 4 countries + Wikipedia in German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch90−5%−9%−16%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 8 countries + Wikipedia in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Malay105−9%+23%+6%
South AsiaGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil91−21%+11%−14%
Gulf and Middle EastWikipedia in Persian, Arabic, Turkish74−24%+6%−42%
AfricaGoogle in 2 countries96−21%−8%−8%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 4 countries + Wikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese99−9%−4%−4%
Russia and EurasiaWikipedia in Russian, Ukrainian79−13%+9%−42%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
ArgentinaGoogle173+34%+72%+249%
AustraliaGoogle93−35%+19%+5%
BrazilWikipedia in Portuguese106+17%+27%−8%
CanadaGoogle122−14%+73%+40%
FranceGoogle + Wikipedia in French77−8%−16%−32%
GermanyWikipedia in German88−0%+3%−20%
IndiaGoogle + Wikipedia in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil87−9%+2%−19%
IndonesiaGoogle + Wikipedia in Indonesian95−22%+5%+14%
ItalyGoogle + Wikipedia in Italian77−17%−42%−19%
JapanGoogle + Wikipedia in Japanese92−36%+7%+3%
South KoreaGoogle + Wikipedia in Korean125−1%+35%+38%
MexicoGoogle99−14%−5%+12%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian77−19%−0%−38%
South AfricaGoogle121+1%+13%+56%
TürkiyeWikipedia in Turkish87−7%+1%−3%
United KingdomGoogle151+25%+114%+67%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English88−21%−8%−9%

Relation to each scenario

A trend relates to a scenario when it changes how likely the scenario is, how hard it lands, or is itself sharply changed by it. Each score is the median of three scores given separately by the members of the model panel.

RelationScenarioFamily
4 · HighCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
4 · HighA global funding seizure reaches sovereign balance sheets S02Economic and trade
4 · HighA cross-regional market access compact redirects investment S12 ↗Economic and trade
3 · ModerateCheap firm clean power becomes available at scale S15 ↗Energy, climate and resources
2 · LowA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
2 · LowA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA disputed transfer of power breaks effective government S05Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedTwo breadbasket failures trigger a food availability crisis S06Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA major disaster disables the national economic core S07Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAn AI deployment step causes abrupt labour displacement S08Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA cryptographic breakthrough invalidates digital trust S09Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA novel respiratory pathogen exceeds health surge capacity S10Health
0 · Not relatedA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA validated farming package raises water-efficient output S16 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAI-directed research produces a reproducible discovery step S17 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA public service platform reaches inclusive operation S18 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedAffordable preventive treatments reduce chronic illness S19 ↗Health
0 · Not relatedA live outbreak proves rapid distributed pandemic defence S20 ↗Health

Similarity = 0.3 × shared tags (Jaccard) + 0.3 × likeness of scenario profiles (cosine) + 0.3 × likeness of names and descriptions (TF-IDF cosine) + 0.1 if in the same capability domain, cut into seven levels at 0.12, 0.22, 0.33, 0.45, 0.58, 0.72. Shown at Moderate and above.

SimilarityTrendThemeRank
5 · Very highSovereign wealth & state capitalTrade, industry & supply chains108
4 · HighTrade & investment fragmentationTrade, industry & supply chains37
4 · HighTrade corridor competitionTrade, industry & supply chains38
4 · HighEconomic security policyTrade, industry & supply chains47
4 · HighTariff barrier normalisationTrade, industry & supply chains58
4 · HighShifting economic weightTrade, industry & supply chains78
4 · HighRegional trade agreement deepeningTrade, industry & supply chains105
3 · ModerateIndustrial policy competitionTrade, industry & supply chains26
3 · ModerateExport controls & economic coercionTrade, industry & supply chains34
3 · ModerateDollar dependence & payment fragmentationMoney & debt45
3 · ModerateExternal liquidity buffer requirementsMoney & debt46
3 · ModerateManufacturing overcapacityTrade, industry & supply chains51
3 · ModerateCommodity dependence & price volatilityTrade, industry & supply chains54
3 · ModerateCritical input supplier concentrationTrade, industry & supply chains74
3 · ModerateRare earth processing concentrationTrade, industry & supply chains102
3 · ModerateSanctions circumvention networksTrade, industry & supply chains140
3 · ModerateCritical minerals supply constraintsTrade, industry & supply chains155
3 · ModerateAfrica's demographic & economic riseTrade, industry & supply chains172
3 · ModerateNon-tariff compliance & traceabilityTrade, industry & supply chains185
3 · ModerateCarbon border adjustmentsTrade, industry & supply chains186
3 · ModerateTrade finance & correspondent banking gapsMoney & debt200