Second Quarter Outward FDI Reaches USD 20.5 Billion...Growth Continues for Four Consecutive Quarters

Government Releases Report on Trends in Outward Foreign Direct Investment

In the second quarter of this year, outward foreign direct investment (FDI) from Korea saw a significant year-on-year increase, continuing its four-quarter streak of growth.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s report on second-quarter FDI trends released on September 29, total investment reached USD 20.52 billion, marking a 32.3% rise compared to the same period last year (USD 15.5 billion).

Although this figure represents a slight decrease from the previous quarter (USD 22.12 billion in the first quarter of this year), it still maintains a trend of expansion for four consecutive quarters on a year-on-year basis, starting from the third quarter of 2025.

By industry, the largest amounts were invested in financial and insurance services (USD 10.48 billion), followed by manufacturing (USD 3.57 billion), information and communications (USD 2.73 billion), scientific and technical services (USD 660 million), and real estate (USD 660 million).

Among the top five industries, all sectors except real estate recorded growth, with information and communications posting the sharpest increase at 265.3%.

By region, North America led with USD 9.19 billion, followed by Asia (USD 5.57 billion), Europe (USD 2.98 billion), and Central and South America (USD 2.14 billion). In particular, investment in North America and Asia expanded in scale.

When broken down by country, the United States attracted the most investment (USD 8.86 billion), followed by Japan (USD 2.46 billion), Luxembourg (USD 1.59 billion), the Cayman Islands (USD 1.54 billion), and Indonesia (USD 1.02 billion). Notably, investments increased in the United States, Japan, and Indonesia.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance commented, "The increase in outward FDI in the second quarter is attributed to the expansion of financial and insurance investments aimed at diversifying earnings globally, as well as the overseas expansion of Korean companies, particularly in the information and communications sector."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.