Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Turkish energy sector tripled in the first five months of this year compared to the same period of last year, amounting to $649 million.

According to information compiled by Anadolu Agency (AA) from the Industry and Technology Ministry's FDI bulletin, foreign direct investment inflow totaled $2.1 billion in the January-May period of this year.

In this period, the energy sector led the way in foreign direct investments with major projects. Direct energy investments made by foreigners in Turkey tripled, while direct investments in the energy sector, which stood at $202 million in the January-May period of last year, amounted to $649 million in the same period this year. Thus, about one-third of the foreign direct investments in the first five months of this year were made in the energy sector.

Other sectors with the highest FDI rate in this period were listed as the manufacturing industry with $416 million and the transportation, communication and storage with $347 million.

With regards to the FDI distribution on a country-by-country basis, 64.3 percent of the capital inflows in January-May period of this year originated from the European Union countries.

Meanwhile, approximately $1.4 billion of capital inflows came from EU countries, followed by Asian countries with $409 million, the U.S. with $175 million, and other European countries with $172 million.

Given the cash capital inflows from EU countries, $318 million of about $1.4 billion inflow came from Austria. In the January-May period of this year, cash inflows from Austria almost tripled compared to the same period last year.