As the overseas investment boom continues, Korea's financial investment in the United States increased by nearly $160 billion last year. This is the largest increase ever in terms of the growth amount. The proportion of financial assets in the total financial assets balance accounted for nearly 46%, marking a two-year consecutive peak.
According to the '2024 international investment position by region and currency (provisional)' announced by the Bank of Korea on the 26th, Korea's external financial assets (investment by its nationals abroad) amounted to $20.97 billion at the end of last year, an increase of $17.24 billion from the end of the previous year. This figure excludes reserve assets in accordance with international conventions.
By investment region, the highest investment was in the United States, amounting to $962.6 billion ($630.4 billion in securities and $238.9 billion in direct investment). The proportion of financial assets in the total investment balance related to the United States was 45.9%, marking the highest level for the second consecutive year following 2023 (42.1%). The growth amount also set a new record. The investment in the United States increased by $15.81 billion from the previous year, the largest increase on record since relevant statistics began.
Investments in the European Union (EU) and Southeast Asia accounted for $249.5 billion (11.9%) each, following the United States. Compared to the previous year, investment in the EU decreased by $3.1 billion, while investment in Southeast Asia increased by $1.5 billion. Securities investment in the EU ($124.7 billion) and direct investment in Southeast Asia ($155.3 billion) accounted for more than half of the total.
The investment balance in Latin America was $143 billion (6.8%), while the investment balance in China was $138.6 billion (6.6%). The investment balance in Latin America decreased by $2.5 billion, while the investment balance in China increased by $400 million. Notably, the proportion of investment in China decreased for the third consecutive year due to overlapping effects of U.S.-China tensions and sluggish domestic demand in China. The investment balance in Japan was $56.7 billion (2.7%), and the Middle East accounted for $25.7 billion (1.2%).
Park Seong-gon, head of the overseas investment statistics team at the Economic Statistics Office, noted, "Last year, as the U.S. dollar strengthened, most other currencies weakened against the dollar. Consequently, assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar experienced losses, leading to a decrease in investment amounts in regions such as the EU and Latin America compared to the previous year."
The external financial liabilities (foreign investments in the country) were $1.4105 trillion at the end of last year, a decrease of $129 billion compared to the end of the previous year. By region, Southeast Asia had the largest investment size at $328 billion (23.3%), followed by the United States at $319.1 billion (22.6%) and the EU at $231.7 billion (16.4%). This marks the first time that Southeast Asia has held the top position.
In terms of fluctuations, external financial liabilities decreased across all regions. The investment size in the United States decreased by $62.4 billion, the largest decline, followed by the EU at $15.6 billion, the Middle East at $13.3 billion, Japan at $11.2 billion, China at $7.5 billion, and Southeast Asia at $1.5 billion.