​The preliminary results of foreign direct investment (FDI) by the end of the third quarter of 2017 showed that the total volume of the FDI in the Sultanate during this period reached to RO 8324.6 million that is an increase of 13.3% over RO 7158.4 million of the same period in 2016. This is a difference of RO 1166.2 million.

The United Kingdom ranked first in the volume of the FDI. Its volume of investment in the end of the third quarter of 2017 was RO 3511.3 million compared with RO 3043.5 million in the same period in 2016. It is followed by the United Arab Emirates, which came on second position in its direct investments, which is valued to be RO 949.3 million by the end of the third quarter of 2017 compared with RO 785.8 million in the same period in 2016. The investments of Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar were RO 458.3 million, RO 455.4 million and RO 443.9 million respectively.

Investments from the United States saw a remarkable improvement in the end of the third quarter of 2017, with a total investment of RO 367.2 million compared with RO 231.2 million of the same period in 2016. The Indian investments was RO 330.5 million and Swiss investment was RO 312.5 million until the end of the third quarter of 2017. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), foreign investment in the oil and gas exploration activity concentrated at RO 4136 million compared with RO 3373 million for the same period of 2017.

The financial sector reached to RO 1,408 million by the end of the third quarter of 2017, which is an increase over RO 1261.1 million of same period of 2016. The industrial sector reached at RO 1034.4 million by the end of the third quarter of 2017, from RO 1002 million during the same period in 2016. The real estate sector-renting and business actives reached to RO 691.6 million, up from RO 597.9 million during the same period in 2016, compared to RO (1002) million for the same period of 2016.

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