SOFIA, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bulgaria grew by 10.3 percent year-on-year in 2018, according to preliminary data published by the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) on Tuesday.

From January to December 2018, FDI in the Balkan country presented according to the directional principle totaled 1.533 billion euros (1.732 billion U.S. dollars) or 2.8 percent of gross domestic product, the BNB said.

The largest net direct investment inflow came from the Netherlands, 1.087 billion euros (1.228 billion dollars), followed by Germany, 153.7 million euros (173.7 million dollars), and Belgium, 94.3 million euros (106.6 million dollars), the BNB said.

Equity amounted to 565.5 million euros (639.0 million dollars) in 2018, growing by 378.1 million euros (427.3 million dollars) compared to 2017, the data showed.

Meanwhile, reinvestments of earnings totaled 264 million euros (298 million dollars), compared with 128.9 million euros (145.7 million dollars) in 2017, the BNB said.

Declines were recorded in the net flow on debt instruments, which stood at 703.3 million euros (794.7 million dollars) in 2018, while in 2017 the figure was 1.073 billion euros (1.212 billion dollars), and real estate investments by non-residents, which dropped by 11.6 million euros (13.1 million dollars) to 7.9 million euros (8.9 million dollars).