Comparing the ratio of capital spending to sales of the chemical industry (including pharmaceuticals) in Europe, NAFTA and the Asia Pacific region, Asia Pacific clearly attracts most investment. NAFTA has a slightly higher investment to sales ratio than the EU over all the period observed. In recent years NAFTA has also been suffering from a decline, like the EU, reaching a ratio of 4.3 in 2006, whereas the EU remains much lower at 3.5. The heavy investment in new capacities in the Asia Pacific region is reflected in the high investment to sales ratio. Between 1996 and 2002 it was around twice the ratio of the EU and NAFTA, but the gap between the regions has been increasing in recent years, Asia Pacific reaching more than three times the number of the EU and NAFTA.