BUCHAREST, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Romania advanced by almost 20 percent to 4.377 billion euros (5.372 billion U.S. dollars) in the first 11 months of 2017, official data revealed on Monday.

According to a statement by the National Bank of Romania (BNR), the figure exceeded the total amount of the last year when the FDI achieved a record level of 4.08 billion euros.

Among the total FDI, the equity investments, including the reinvested profits, totaled 3.502 billion euros at the end of November while the inter-company loans generated net outflows worth 875 million euros.

The number of newly-set up companies running on foreign capital increased by 9.8 percent year on year in the first 11 months of 2017, reaching 5,392 companies with a paid-up capital of more than 38.19 million U.S. dollars, up 9.5 percent year to year, official data revealed.

As of the end of November, the total number of such companies was 215,206, with a total equity capital of over 60.2 billion U.S. dollars.

The Netherlands holds the leading position with 12.2 billion U.S. dollars and 5,101 companies, followed by Austria with 7.1 billion U.S. dollars and 7,376 companies and Germany with 6.58 billion U.S. dollars and 22,064 companies.