The country's direct investment abroad (DIA) also posted a growth of 26.5 percent to 26.1 billion ringgit last year.
Chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the higher FDI was mainly due to injection of equity from Japan to Malaysia in health activity.
The foreign inflows were mainly channeled into services sector, particularly in health, real estate and financial activities, he added.
Manufacturing sector was the second highest, mainly in the form of debt instruments and equity in refined petroleum and electric and electronic products, followed by the mining and quarrying sector.
DOSM statistics also showed major contributors to FDI flows in 2019 were Japan, Hong Kong and the Netherlands.
In terms of DIA, Mahidin said overseas investment rebounded after recording continuous decline since 2015 due to uncertainty in the global environment and subdued crude oil prices .
Brazil became the top country for Malaysia 's DIA, particularly investment in the oil and gas industry.
