One in Four Koreans Is a Shareholder... Samsung Electronics Leads KOSPI, EcoPro BM Tops KOSDAQ

The Era of 14.56 Million Shareholders of Listed Companies
Most Stocks Held by "Gangnam Men in Their 50s and 60s"
84.9% Own Fewer Than Ten Stocks

Last year, the number of shareholders of listed companies reached 14.56 million, an increase of 2.3% compared to the previous year. By market, the most widely held "national stocks" were Samsung Electronics on the KOSPI and Ecopro BM on the KOSDAQ market.

On the 18th, backed by the rebound in the U.S. stock market, the KOSPI index rose for the third consecutive trading day, regaining the 5700 point level. The status of the domestic stock market was displayed on the electronic board in the dealing room of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul. Early in the trading session, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix also surpassed 200,000 won and 1,000,000 won respectively. Photo by Jinhyung Kang

According to data from the Korea Securities Depository on March 18, the total number of shares owned by all shareholders stood at approximately 117.4 billion, with an average of about 8,066 shares owned per shareholder. The overwhelming majority of shareholders were individuals, accounting for about 14.42 million (99.1%), but the average number of shares owned per shareholder was highest among corporations, at about 770,000 shares.

In terms of the number of shares held by investor type: in the KOSPI market, corporations held about 28.6 billion shares (46.2%), individuals 21.6 billion shares (35.0%), and foreign investors 11.6 billion shares (18.8%). In the KOSDAQ market, individuals held approximately 34.1 billion shares (63.2%), corporations 16.7 billion shares (30.9%), and foreign investors 3.2 billion shares (5.9%). In the KONEX market, individuals held 600 million shares (63.0%), corporations 300 million shares (35.0%), and foreign investors 19 million shares (2.0%).

For the KOSPI market, Samsung Electronics had the largest number of shareholders, with about 4.61 million. This was followed by Kakao with 1.6 million and SK hynix with 1.19 million shareholders. In the KOSDAQ market, Ecopro BM had 510,000 shareholders, followed by Ecopro with 490,000, and SEMIFIVE with 410,000.

Regarding the proportion of shares owned by foreign investors, in the KOSPI market, S-OIL had the highest with 74.3%, followed by KB Financial Group at 72.2%, and Hana Financial Group at 67.0%. In the KOSDAQ market, Korea Ratings led with 81.0%, followed by Pino at 79.8%, and Organic Tea Cosmetics at 79.2%.

By age group among individual shareholders, those in their 50s accounted for 3.33 million (23.1%) and owned 19.4 billion shares (34.4%), making them the largest group. By gender, there were 7.42 million men (51.5%) and 7 million women (48.5%). In terms of the number of shares held, men accounted for 40.6 billion shares (72.0%), while women accounted for 15.8 billion shares (28.0%).

By region, the number of individual and corporate shareholders was highest in Gyeonggi Province at 3.85 million (26.6%), followed by Seoul with 3.46 million (23.9%), and Busan with 870,000 (6.0%). The ratio of shareholders to the total population was highest in Seoul at 37.2%, followed by Ulsan at 33.1%, and Sejong Special Self-Governing City at 30.6%.

In terms of the number of shares owned, Seoul topped the list with 50.9 billion shares (49.9%), followed by Gyeonggi Province with 19.8 billion shares (19.4%), and Busan with 4.2 billion shares (4.1%). The region with the fewest shareholders was Sejong Special Self-Governing City with 120,000 (0.8%), and the region with the fewest shares owned was Jeju Special Self-Governing Province with 460 million shares (0.5%).

Among individual shareholders by place of residence, gender, and age group, the largest group was women in their 50s living in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, with 47,000 shareholders, followed by women in their 50s living in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, with 46,000, and men in their 50s living in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, with 44,000. In terms of the number of shares owned, men in their 50s residing in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, held 1.49 billion shares, followed by men in their 60s in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, with 990 million shares, and men in their 60s in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, with 680 million shares.

Among shareholders, 4.59 million (31.5%) owned shares in only one company, 2.43 million (16.7%) owned two companies, and 1.55 million (10.7%) owned three companies. The majority of shareholders (84.9%) owned shares in fewer than 10 companies, while those who owned shares in 10 or more companies numbered 2.2 million (15.1%).

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