Definition: Perpetual inventory method

Foreign direct investment

Refers to the process of deriving data on stocks (position data) from transaction data. Under this method, for which a stock estimate for some base point in time is required, the compiler may calculate the value of a stock at the end of a period as being equal to the value of the stock at the beginning of the period, plus the impact of transactions and non-transaction changes in the value of the stock during the period. http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/statmanuals/files/OECD_Handbook on_Eco_Glob_Indicators.pdf