Home > Business > Economy

Value of foreign investment in Korean stocks nearly doubled in 2025

Published: 18 Feb. 2026, 15:51 Updated: 18 Feb. 2026, 17:39

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York City on Feb. 17. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

The value of Korean stocks held by offshore investors has nearly doubled from a year earlier amid an unprecedented stock rally led by semiconductors, industry data showed Wednesday.

Foreigners held a total of 1.33 quadrillion won ($918.3 billion) worth of stocks listed in the local market at the end of last year, according to data from the Financial Securities Service (FSS).

That figure marks a 96.9 percent spike from the 673.7 trillion won tallied at the end of 2024.

The increase came largely from a sharp rise in the value of local shares, with the country's total market capitalization surging over 77 percent to 3.48 quadrillion won from 1.96 quadrillion won a year earlier.

According to the data, offshore investors sold a net 9.2 trillion won of local shares last year.

By country, investors from the United States held the largest share of local securities, at 546 trillion won. That figure is more than double the 272 trillion won tallied a year earlier.

Next in line were investors from Britain and Singapore, holding 144 trillion won and 88 trillion won, respectively.

British investors were the most frequent traders of local stocks, with transactions totaling 1.03 quadrillion won over the one-year period. They accounted for 46.2 percent of all trades made by offshore investors in Korea.

Yonhap