Kosova FDI may top 2025’s record 1 billion euro

Kosova is on its way to attracting a record amount of foreign direct investment after last year’s level exceeded 1 billion euro for the first time in the country’s history, according to the Central Bank governor.

Governor Ahmet Ismaili said that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which increased 30 percent year-on-year in 2025, was driven by investments in real estate, services as well as the tech and cyber-security sectors. It came mainly from the nation’s diaspora.

“We believe that this rhythm will continue for a few years, and that will be a very good base for growth,” Ismaili told Bloomberg in an interview.

The small, open economy depends on remittances that account for about 13 percent to 14 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Most support is coming from the Kosovar diaspora in Germany and Switzerland.

While remittances used to fuel the booming real estate sector and domestic consumption, in the last few years there’s been a shift toward other investment activities. Ismaili said he was optimistic about Kosova’s economic outlook after several years of around 4 percebt growth. That pace could be even faster if the country were able to advance with its aspirations to join the European Union.

The experience of other nations that joined the bloc showed that growth could get a major boost from EU membership. In the case of Kosova, that may even mean a double-digit expansion, he said. But EU membership hinges on a number of factors, not least on Kosova reconciling with its war-time foe Serbia, which remains a major obstacle to the process. There’s currently little dialog on mending ties between the two neighboring nations.

Kosova declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Last year, the World Bank dropped the Balkan country from its List of Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations, signaling it no longer classifies it as an unstable or high-risk conflict zone.