The European Union and the United States topped the list for foreign direct investments (FDI) in Turkey in July and August, respectively, a welcome surprise for Turkey after Asian countries led the list earlier in the year. Investor sentiment, however, seems to have soured in September, with official figures indicating a sharp decline.

According to Economy Ministry statistics, FDI stood at $1.15 billion in May, $1.1 billion in June, $3.38 billion in July and $1.99 billion in August. In September, however, foreign investors put only $791 million into the country. 

The figures include foreign purchases of real estate. Excluding those purchases, FDI from Asian countries topped the list in May and June with $384 million and $390 million respectively, before declining to $88 million in July, $53 million in August and $34 million in September.

In July, the surprise came from EU countries, whose entrepreneurs invested $2.9 billion in Turkey, making the bulk of the total of $3.06 billion, excluding real estate buys. Monthly FDI from the EU had ranged between $170 million and $439 million during the first half of the year, which makes the $2.9 billion figure for July even more striking.