In the context of globalization, the issue of foreign direct investments and their influence on the development of the emerging economies, continues to be a topic of interest for many economic theories. The need, the importance and the effects of foreign direct investments have attracted the attention of all the states and produced an intense competition to attract the foreign capital. FDI inflows have a very important role in the establishment of new world economic powers. In the world economy, the foreign direct investment are oriented in major proportion to developed countries, but the interest in this type of investment is particularly developed also in the emerging countries who need not only foreign capital inflows, but also the modern managerial experience and access to markets. The aim of this paper is to study and analyze the evolution of foreign direct investment in emerging and developed economies in the last twenty years.