Investment by European private equity funds fell by a third last year to pre-bubble 1999 levels, according to new data from the European Venture Capital Association (Evca).

Investment totalled €24.3bn ($22.6bn) in 2001. The UK dominated Europe in terms of the amount of money invested the €7bn of investment accounted for 29% of the total. Germany came second at €4.4bn and France was third with €3.3bn. However, Germany leads France and the UK in terms of number of deals.