South Korea's overseas direct investment (ODI) rose nearly 9% last year from the previous year, driven by growth in the financial and insurance sector and manufacturing.
According to the "2025 Annual Overseas Direct Investment Trends" report released by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) on the 27th, ODI totaled $71.88 billion (approximately 108 trillion won) last year, up 8.7% from $66.13 billion (approximately 99 trillion won) a year earlier.
Overseas direct investment hit a record $83.48 billion (approximately 126 trillion won) in 2022, then fell 20.9% in 2023. It held roughly flat in 2024 before returning to growth last year.
"This reflects a combination of factors including a rate-cut trend, strong global stock markets and investment in response to supply chain realignment," a MOEF official said.
By sector, financial and insurance services led the expansion, surging 32.7% year-on-year to $37.89 billion (approximately 57 trillion won). Overseas direct investment covers cases where a stake of 10% or more in a foreign company is acquired, and does not include individual investors' overseas stock purchases, meaning it mainly reflects corporate overseas expansion and capital flows. Manufacturing also rose 4.1% to $17.11 billion (approximately 26 trillion won).
The two sectors combined accounted for approximately 77% of total investment. Wholesale and retail trade jumped 51.0% to $2.73 billion (approximately 4 trillion won). In contrast, real estate fell 46.9% to $3.0 billion (approximately 5 trillion won), and mining dropped 41.6% to $2.55 billion (approximately 4 trillion won).
By region, North America led with $27.81 billion (approximately 42 trillion won), followed by Asia at $16.06 billion (approximately 24 trillion won) and Europe at $14.99 billion (approximately 23 trillion won). Investment in Asia surged 23.9%, expanding its share of the total from 18.0% to 22.3%. North America and Europe also grew 6.0% and 3.5%, respectively.
By country, the United States remained the top destination at $25.27 billion (approximately 38 trillion won), up 12.9% from the previous year. The Cayman Islands followed at $8.44 billion, Luxembourg at $6.34 billion and Singapore at $3.82 billion.
MOEF said it plans to continue closely monitoring overseas direct investment flows amid global supply chain realignment and changes in the international trade order, and to maintain policy responses to support stable business operations by Korean companies expanding abroad.
