Leaving Behind the Sturdy and Grand, 'BBIG' Takes Its Place

Comparing the Top Market Cap Stocks with 10 Years Ago

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] This year, as the KOSPI surpassed the 2800 mark and opened a new chapter, the saying "even mountains and rivers change in ten years" proved true with a dramatic transformation in the top market capitalization stocks compared to a decade ago. While traditional heavy industries such as automobiles, steel, and heavy chemical sectors, along with financial industries that once led the Korean economy, declined, the 4th industrial revolution sectors represented by 'BBIG (Battery, Bio, Internet, Game)' took their place.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 31st, the top 10 KOSPI companies by market capitalization this year were Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, LG Chem, Samsung Biologics, Celltrion, Naver, Samsung SDI, Hyundai Motor, Kakao, and Samsung C&T. The combined market capitalization of these top stocks reached 923.5971 trillion KRW, an increase of over 500 trillion KRW compared to ten years ago.

Samsung Electronics maintained its unshakable first place, but the rankings from 2nd to 10th changed entirely over the past decade. Ten years ago, the top 10 KOSPI companies by market capitalization were Samsung Electronics, POSCO, Hyundai Motor, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Mobis, LG Chem, Shinhan Financial Group, KB Financial Group, Samsung Life Insurance, and Kia Motors. Their combined market capitalization was 396.6229 trillion KRW.

Samsung Electronics' market capitalization grew from 139.787 trillion KRW ten years ago to 483.5523 trillion KRW, an increase of approximately 246% over ten years. Besides Samsung Electronics, only Hyundai Motor and LG Chem remained in the top 10. Hyundai Motor, which was 3rd ten years ago, dropped to 8th, while LG Chem rose from 6th to 3rd. Hyundai Motor's market capitalization increased by only 7.4% over ten years, whereas LG Chem surged by 124% during the same period.

The rest of the top 10 were filled with new faces. POSCO, which was 2nd ten years ago, fell to 14th, with SK Hynix taking its place. SK Hynix, ranked 16th ten years ago, saw its market capitalization jump from 14 trillion KRW to 86 trillion KRW.

Heavy industries such as Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Mobis, and Kia Motors, along with financial stocks like Shinhan Financial Group, KB Financial Group, and Samsung Life Insurance, were replaced by BBIG sector companies such as Samsung SDI, Samsung Biologics, Celltrion, Naver, and Kakao.

In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic this year accelerated the reshuffling of top market capitalization stocks, with non-face-to-face (untact) related stocks and the bio sector gaining significant attention. Kakao, which was ranked 22nd last year and did not even make the top 20, jumped to 9th place, exemplifying this trend. Hyundai Motor and LG Chem also maintained their positions by gaining attention for eco-friendly vehicles and secondary batteries rather than traditional automobile manufacturing and heavy chemical industries.

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