Mexico City, Feb 19 (IANS): Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Mexico fell 11.7 per cent in 2020, reaching $29.079 billion, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Economy Ministry said.

According to the ministry's preliminary estimates, last year's FDI fell short of $32.921 billion the country received in 2019, the Xinhua news agency reported.

The US accounted for most of Mexico's FDI flows in 2020, contributing 39.1 per cent of the total, followed by Canada (14.5 per cent), Spain (13.7 per cent), Japan (4.2 per cent) and Germany (3.5 per cent). Other countries contributed the remaining 25 per cent.

"Compared to the rest of the world, Mexico performed better at attracting FDI in the most adverse year in recent economic history," the ministry said in a statement.

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), global FDI flows plunged 42 per cent in 2020 year on year, the ministry noted in an earlier report.

Mexico's economy, the second largest in Latin America after Brazil, contracted 8.3 per cent in 2020, its worst performance since the 1930s, as a result of the pandemic.