Seoul: The number of stock investors in South Korea slightly increased from the previous year in 2024, despite a bearish market trend, industry data revealed on Monday. A total of 14.23 million investors held shares in 2,687 companies listed on the country's main and secondary bourses, marking a 0.5 percent rise from the year before.
According to Yonhap News Agency, retail investors in corporations that close their books in December accounted for 14.1 million of the total, making up 99.1 percent. Local corporate investors were recorded at 56,000, while foreign individuals and institutions totaled 30,000.
Investor distribution showed that Samsung Electronics Co. had the largest shareholder group, with 5.67 million investors. Kakao Corp., the operator of KakaoTalk, followed with 1.69 million investors, and leading internet portal operator Naver had 910,000 investors.
The data also highlighted that offshore investors held 50 percent or more of shares in 32 local listed companies. Tongyang Life Insurance Co. had the highest foreign ownership ratio, with 82.7 percent of its shares held by foreign investors.