Overseas financial assets reach $2.4 trillion

US share hits record 47.1%

[Getty Images Bank]
[Getty Images Bank]

By Kim Byeo-ri, The Herald Business

South Koreans' investment in the United States surpassed $1 trillion for the first time last year, driven by a surge in retail stock buying among individual investors who have flocked to US equity markets.

The Bank of Korea said Thursday that South Korea's total overseas financial assets, excluding reserve assets, stood at $2.4396 trillion at the end of last year, up $344.8 billion from a year earlier, according to its provisional 2025 International Investment Position by Region and Currency report.

Overseas financial assets refer to financial assets held or invested abroad by domestic residents.

By region, the United States accounted for the largest share at $1.1492 trillion, followed by the eurozone ($307.5 billion) and Southeast Asia ($279.5 billion).

The US-linked financial asset balance crossed the $1 trillion mark for the first time last year, rising $204.2 billion over the year — the largest single-year increase on record.

The US share of total overseas financial assets also hit a record 47.1%, extending a streak of record highs for the third consecutive year after 41.8% in 2023 and 45.1% in 2024.

China, by contrast, saw its balance fall $4.1 billion to $139.8 billion, with its share limited to 5.7 percent.

The surge was fueled by aggressive buying from individual retail investors. Moon Sang-yun, head of the Bank of Korea's overseas investment statistics team, said US-linked financial assets had grown rapidly since the mid-2010s. "Net purchases have continued, centered on equity investment, and the relatively faster rise in US share prices compared with other countries also contributed," he said.

Moon added that the United States accounted for 66.9 percent of South Korea's total overseas equity investment as of the end of the first half of last year — "a considerably high level even compared with major countries."

He said a buoyant domestic stock market could slow the pace of growth in US-bound investment, but added that "the possibility of the US share of financial assets declining is limited."

South Korea's total overseas financial liabilities stood at $1.9819 trillion at the end of last year, up $558 billion from a year earlier.

The United States ($523.1 billion), Southeast Asia ($391.4 billion) and the EU ($331.6 billion) held the largest shares. Investment balances rose across all regions as domestic share prices climbed sharply.

By currency, US dollar-denominated assets were the largest at $1.5136 trillion, or 62.0 percent of the total, followed by euro-denominated assets ($223.1 billion, 9.1 percent) and yuan-denominated assets ($115.3 billion, 4.7 percent). Balances rose across all major currencies from the end of the prior year — dollar assets by $224.9 billion, euro assets by $37.3 billion and yuan assets by $3 billion.

Moon noted that while foreign investors recorded net withdrawals from South Korean equities last year, the sharp rise in domestic share prices pushed up the assessed value of shares held by foreigners, increasing the liability balance.


kimstar@heraldcorp.com