The paper considers economic growth of five Western Balkan countries on the one hand, and on the other the affluence of direct foreign investments as one of external sources of growth in the period 2000-2017. The starting point was the attitude that due to insufficient domestic savings and engagement of foreign investments, those countries have to treat external sources of investment as a condition of permanent change of economic growth rate to a higher level, because it is obvious that after the economic crisis in 2009, the economic growth rates do not provide closure of developmental gap with EU countries. Therefore, foreign direct investments are the supplement to domestic accumulation. However, without disclaiming their benefits, it should be borne in mind that they cannot be substitution for domestic saving.