Korean foreign direct investment (FDI) amounted to US $77.17 billion in 2022, slightly rising by 0.4 percent compared with a year ago. While the annual figure hit an all-time high, the quarterly figure continued to decline throughout the year after its peak in the first quarter of 2022. Korea’s FDI net outflows were US $61.17 billion, up 3.8 percent from the same period of the previous year.
By industry, Korea’s FDI focused on finance & insurance (US $29.70 billion), manufacturing (US $23.59 billion), real estate & renting (US $7.07 billion), information & communications services (US $3.67 billion), and electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (US $2.96 billion).
By country, the top destination for Korea’s FDI was the US (US $27.77 billion), followed by the Cayman Islands (US $9.38 billion), China (US $6.59 billion), and Luxembourg (US $4.94 billion). Hungary ranked eighth with the largest increase in Korea’s FDI (US $1.84 billion, up 117.3% y-o-y) in 2022.