Home > Business > Finance

Number of Korean stock shareholders reaches nearly 15 million in 2025: Data

Published: 18 Mar. 2026, 16:56

The SK hynix logo is displayed on its headquarters in Icheon, Gyeonggi, on Jan. 29. [YONHAP]

The number of shareholder entities of Korea-listed stocks last year reached nearly 15 million, according to market data on Wednesday.

The number of shareholders of 2,727 companies listed on the local stock market reached 14.6 million as of the end of December, up 2.3 percent from 2024, according to data from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD).

Of them, 99.1 percent were individual investors, while foreigners accounted for 0.2 percent, the KSD said.

Market behemoth Samsung Electronics recorded the largest number of shareholders at 4.6 million, down from 5.7 million last year, the data showed.

In contrast, the number of shareholders of Samsung's chipmaking rival SK hynix jumped by more than 50 percent from 2024 to 1.19 million.

SK hynix had jumped nearly four times from 173,900 won ($117) on Dec. 30, 2024, to 651,000 won as of the end of last year. Shares of Samsung Electronics also more than doubled but were relatively muted compared to the stellar rise of SK hynix during the same period.

Yonhap