SOFIA, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bulgaria grew by 36.7 percent year-on-year in 2017, according to preliminary data published by the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) on Monday.

From January to December 2017, FDI in the Balkan country presented according to the directional principle totaled 901.9 million euros (some 1.12 billion U.S. dollars) or 1.8 percent of gross domestic product, the BNB said.

The largest net direct investment inflow came from the Netherlands, followed by Switzerland, and Germany, the BNB said.

Equity amounted to 189.4 million euros, dropping by 443.2 million euros compared to 2016, the data showed.

Meanwhile, reinvestments of earnings totaled 229.8 million euros, compared with 341.2 million euros in 2016, the BNB said.