The burst of the information technology bubble and other trade deterrents halved the value of the world's direct investments in 2001 to $694.8 billion, the semigovernmental Japan External Trade Organization said Tuesday.

The investment amount for the 12-month period to Dec. 31, 2001, signifies a staggering 52.7 percent fall from the preceding year, JETRO said in its annual report on the world's trade and investment.

The margin of the year-on-year fall was the steepest since 1970, when JETRO began compiling relevant statistics.