FDI in ICT Sector Rises to $158.1 Million in FY2025, Still Below Earlier Peaks

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector reached $158.1 million in FY2025, reflecting a notable increase compared to fiscal year 2024, according to official documents from the Ministry of Information Technology.

Despite this year-on-year improvement, overall FDI inflows into the ICT sector remain below the levels recorded in fiscal years 2021 and 2022, indicating that the sector has yet to fully recover from earlier highs.

The telecommunications sector accounted for a significant share of ICT investment, attracting $97.1 million in FDI during FY2025. Investment in telecom more than doubled compared to FY2024. However, despite this sharp increase, telecom-sector FDI did not return to the elevated levels seen in FY2021 and FY2022, the documents show.

FDI in the ICT Sector Rises to $158.1 Million in FY2025, Still Below Earlier Peaks

The information technology (IT) sector received $61.1 million in foreign investment during FY2025. This represents an increase compared to both FY2024 and FY2023, signaling a gradual recovery in investor interest. Nonetheless, IT-sector FDI remained substantially lower than in FY2022, highlighting persistent challenges in restoring earlier investment momentum.

Within the IT sector, software development attracted $9.7 million in FDI during FY2025. While this reflects continued foreign participation, investment in software development was significantly lower than the level recorded in FY2022.

Foreign investment in hardware development continued to remain at a consistently low level, with no meaningful improvement observed during the fiscal year.

In contrast, IT-related services, including IT-enabled services, recorded FDI inflows of $51.4 million in FY2025. Investment in IT services increased markedly compared to FY2024. However, despite this growth, FDI in IT-enabled services has remained subdued since FY2022, according to the official documentation.

Overall, while FY2025 data shows a recovery trend in ICT-sector foreign investment—particularly in telecom and IT services—the sector has yet to regain the robust investment levels achieved earlier in the decade.