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Korean market cap out-climbs Taiwan, Germany, becomes 8th globally

Published: 08 Feb. 2026, 16:35

Hana Bank staff celebrate as Korea Exchange's Kospi surpasses the 5,000 mark for the first time on Jan. 27, 2026. [NEWS1]

Korea’s stock market capitalization climbed to eighth in the world after the Kospi reached 5,000 and the Kosdaq hit 1,000 at the same time, overtaking Taiwan after already surpassing Germany.

The combined market capitalization of the Kospi, Kosdaq and Konex markets stood at 4.8 quadrillion won ($3.28 trillion) at Friday’s close, slightly exceeding the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s market cap, according to the Korea Exchange’s information system.

When market capitalizations of 89 stock exchanges worldwide were compared in U.S. dollars as of December last year, Korea ranked 13th globally based on data from the World Federation of Exchanges.

At the time, the Nasdaq ranked first with $37.5 trillion, followed by the New York Stock Exchange with $31.4 trillion. China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange ranked third with $9.3 trillion, followed by Euronext with $7.8 trillion, Japan Exchange Group with $7.6 trillion, China’s Shenzhen Stock Exchange with $6.2 trillion, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing with $6.1 trillion, India’s Bombay Stock Exchange with $5.29 trillion, India’s National Stock Exchange with $5.27 trillion and the Toronto Stock Exchange with $4.6 trillion. Taiwan ranked 11th with $3 trillion, Germany was 12th with $2.9 trillion and Korea placed 13th with $2.76 trillion, or about 4 quadrillion won.

When grouped by country or region rather than by individual exchanges, Korea’s stock market capitalization ranked 10th globally at the end of last year, behind the United States, China, the European Union, Japan, Hong Kong, India, Canada, Taiwan and Germany.

That ranking has risen rapidly this year as the Kospi and Kosdaq surged.

As of Friday, the Kospi and Kosdaq had jumped 20.8 percent and 16.8 percent, respectively, from the end of last year, posting the highest and third-highest gains among major national benchmark indexes. Korea’s total stock market capitalization rose 20.39 percent over the same period. By comparison, Germany’s DAX 30 index and Taiwan’s weighted index gained 0.94 percent and 9.73 percent, respectively.

Optimism remains in the securities industry that the expansion of Korea’s stock market will continue for some time. Earlier this month, global investment bank JPMorgan raised its base target for the Kospi to 6,000 and its bull-market target to 7,500. NH Investment & Securities recently lifted its 12-month Kospi target to 7,300 from 5,500.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHO MUN-GYU [[email protected]]