Korea’s foreign direct investment (FDI) in the third quarter of 2023 amounted to US $14.62 billion, falling by 20.4% from a year ago, when it hit US $18.37 billion. It also fell 6.6% from the previous quarter, reflecting a slowdown in investment for two consecutive quarters.
By industry, Korean FDI was down in most of the sectors, including finance and insurance (US $6.66 billion, down 21.3% y-o-y), real estate and rental (US $0.92 billion, down 36.9% y-o-y), and professional science and technology ($0.43 billion, down 42.5% y-o-y), and mining (US $0.4 billion, down 14.9% y-o-y). FDI in the manufacturing increased by US $4.86 billion, which is down 11.8% y-o-y.
By country, the top destinations for Korean FDI were the US (US $6.68 billion, down 10.3%), followed by the Cayman Islands (US $1.38 billion, down 47.4%), Luxembourg (US $1.26 billion, up 44.4%), Canada (US $0.96 billion, up 272.9%) and Vietnam (US $0.58 billion, up 8.3%).