The total stock of foreign direct investment in Brazil more than tripled in the five years through the end of 2010 to $660.5 billion, the central bank said Thursday.

The figure is equal to 30.8% of gross domestic product, the central bank said in a survey that’s carried out every five years.

The total includes investments in businesses and inter-company loans. Business investments alone came to $579.6 billion and inter-company loans were $80.9 billion.

The central bank surveyed 13,700 companies and investment funds with non-Brazilian depositors for the report, and individual investors were not surveyed.

The U.S. is the biggest source of foreign direct investment in Brazil when measured by the location of the final investor, a criterion that eliminates distortions from the use of fiscal paradises.

U.S. investors owned $104.7 billion of the total stock of foreign direct investment in Brazil on Dec. 31, 2010, followed by Spain with $85.3 billion and Belgium with $50.4 billion.

The sector with the most foreign direct investment is financial services, with $98.1 billion, followed by beverage producers, with $52.2 billion, oil and gas extraction with $49.4 billion and telecommunications with $40.6 billion.

Source: The Wall Street Journal