In the global economy, foreign direct investment (FDI) is considered to be a flow of capital in which a company of one country creates a new company or expands its business to the territory of another country. Foreign direct investments can be made in a variety of ways, including acquisition of a controll interest. Throughout history, the importance of foreign direct investment has become increasing, and it brings benefit to the investor and the recipient of the investment. The first part of the master thesis provides an overview of basic concepts such as the characteristics, types and roles of foreign direct investment. After the theoretical aspect that explains the basic concepts related to foreign direct investment, the continuation of the theoretical part builds on the theories of foreign direct investment. The observed theories are based on two assumptions about the perfection or imperfection of the market and market conditions. The second part of the master thesis focuses on researching global trends in foreign direct investment. The analysis of foreign direct investment at the global level focuses on countries according to the economic strength, as well as the comparison of FDI according to geographical location. The research part of the paper concludes with an analysis of foreign direct investment of the Republic of Croatia. Throughout the analysis, emphasis is placed on 2019 and 2020, which represent the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. The master thesis aims to investigate the impact and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on foreign direct investment.