Investors worried about a weakening global economy have rushed to stocks of countries with higher credit quality such as Germany, Canada and Switzerland, data from EPFR Global showed on Friday.

Equity funds investing in those countries posted solid inflows in the week ending Aug. 17, while those investing in the US and Japan had net redemptions, the fund tracker said.

"At least in the developed markets space, investors are heeding the old dictum that, in tough times, you invest in the creditor, not the debtor," Brad Durham, managing director at EPFR Global, said in a statement.

It was the fifth consecutive week of outflows for US equity funds -- their longest losing streak since January, 2010. However, redemptions were less severe than in the previous week, which followed the downgrade of the US credit rating by Standard & Poor's.

On the other hand, flows into funds investing in Canada hit a 20-week high. Those investing in Switzerland recorded their strongest weekly flows since the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2010.

Outflows from emerging markets equity funds slowed during the past week but still came in at $2.77 billion. Most of the selling happened in Asia ex-Japan, as investors worried about exports from the region, EPFR said. – Reuters