Last Year's Overseas Direct Investment Amount Reaches $61.85 Billion...Record High Achieved

MoEF, 2019 Annual and Q4 Overseas Direct Investment Trends

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Last year, overseas direct investment exceeded 60 billion dollars, setting a record high.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 20th, the overseas direct investment amount in 2019 was 61.85 billion dollars (approximately 78.16 trillion won), an increase of 21.0% compared to the previous year (51.1 billion dollars). This is the highest ever since related statistics began in 1981.

The net investment amount, which subtracts recovery amounts such as equity sales, loan investment recoveries, and liquidations from the overseas direct investment amount, also increased by 18.4% to 49.33 billion dollars from 41.65 billion dollars the previous year.

By industry, financial and insurance services (25.04 billion dollars) and real estate (6.93 billion dollars) led the growth with increases of 45.4% and 33.3% respectively compared to the previous year. Manufacturing investment also rose by 13.8% to 18.35 billion dollars.

A Ministry of Economy and Finance official explained, "In financial and insurance services, investments aimed at investment returns by pension funds and asset management companies increased due to the rise in domestic liquidity. In real estate, investments for acquiring large overseas real estate for stable returns increased. Manufacturing grew due to large mergers and acquisitions (M&A) driven by globalization and investments in key facilities such as electric vehicles, semiconductors, and displays."

The investment share by country is led by the United States (23.9%), Cayman Islands (13.1%), China (9.4%), Vietnam (7.2%), and Singapore (4.9%). The United States (14.77 billion dollars) increased by 32.4% from the previous year due to large M&A for expanding companies' global sales networks, and China (5.8 billion dollars) rose by 20.7% due to facility investments by large corporations to expand local market entry in electric vehicles and semiconductors.

Recovery amounts were highest in financial and insurance services (5.15 billion dollars), mining (1.97 billion dollars), and manufacturing (1.73 billion dollars). By country, recoveries were made in the United States (2.58 billion dollars), Cayman Islands (2.03 billion dollars), and Canada (1.18 billion dollars).

Meanwhile, overseas direct investment in the fourth quarter of last year was 15.95 billion dollars, up 16.1% from 13.73 billion dollars in the same period the previous year.

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