South Korea Trade and Investment Report 2025
Overview
In 2025, foreign direct investment in South Korea rose 21.1% year over year to USD 18.724 billion, the second-highest level on record. Investment grew in both manufacturing and services, while investment from the United States reached a record high. The report presents trends by country or region and industry, along with major investment cases. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said that efforts to attract investment around the APEC summit helped restore investor sentiment, alongside a recovery in confidence in the Korean economy and industry.
Key points
- Foreign direct investment rose 21.1% year over year to USD 18.724 billion, the second-highest level on record.
- Investment from the United States reached a record USD 5.379 billion.
- Notable investment areas included metals and metal products in manufacturing, and finance, insurance, and distribution in services.
- Investment trends and cases varied by country or region in Asia and Europe.
Overview
Foreign direct investment had been on an upward trend since bottoming out at USD 5.454 billion in 2010. In 2025, it reached the second-highest amount on record, after USD 19.982 billion in 2023.
Investment grew in both manufacturing and services. By region, the United States was the largest source; trends were also reported for Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, and China in Asia, and the Netherlands, Italy, and France in Europe.
Impact
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said that confidence in the Korean economy and industry recovered after the Lee Jae-myung administration took office, and that the resolution of uncertainty restored overall investor sentiment toward South Korea. It also said that active investment attraction efforts launched around the APEC summit made a major contribution.
Details
Manufacturing rose 22.3% year over year to USD 5.898 billion, while services grew 27.7% to USD 12.253 billion. In manufacturing, metals and metal products, primary nonferrous metals, and chemicals grew. In services, finance and insurance were the largest areas, while wholesale and retail trade reached 2.5 times the previous year's level.
Investment from the United States was about three times the previous year's level and 40% above the previous record of USD 3.844 billion set in 2018. Singapore accounted for 11.3% of the total. Investment from Japan fell 52.5% year over year, while investment from China was nearly unchanged. In Taiwan, insurance accounted for 82.0%, and Fubon Life Insurance made an additional investment. In Europe, ASML and ASM International completed new facilities, while France's Valeo signed an investment agreement with Daegu City.
Major cases included Blackstone's acquisition of Juno Beauty, the acquisition of KFC Korea by a fund affiliated with Carlyle, OpenAI's establishment of a Korean branch, AWS's construction of an AI data center, and Chinese companies' establishment of sales companies.