Stock investments soar in 07

Amid the stock market boom in Korea last year, the number of Koreans investing in local equity markets rose 22.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the nation s bourse operator yesterday.
In a release, the Korea Exchange said the number of investors on the benchmark Kospi and secondary Kosdaq was 4.4 million combined last year with almost one in five economically active Koreans putting money in stocks. The nation s economically active population last year numbered 24 million. The ratio of stock investors to total population was 9.2 percent, the highest in 14 years. Korea s population last year was 48.5 million.
The number holding 10,000 shares or more was 229,000, a meager 5.2 percent of total individual investors. But the value of their holdings accounted for 73 percent of total market value at 194.6 trillion won, the exchange said.
By individual market, the number of people investing in the Kospi rose 19.8 percent to 3.4 million, while those in the Kosdaq rose 32.8 percent to 2.2 million, the exchange said. The number investing in both markets rose by 268,000 to 1.1 million.
Foreign investors accounted for 30.9 percent on both markets combined, followed by retail investors at 25.3 percent and institutional investors 20.0 percent.
The average age of local stock investors was 45.9, with the average age of those on the Kospi and Kosdaq being 47.1 and 43.0, respectively.
The average amount an investor put in the stock markets was 100 million won ($95,858) for those aged 55 or older and 20 million won for those younger than 20.
Around 75.2 percent of all stock investors were residents of the greater Seoul area, a slight decrease from 77.2 percent in 2006. Those in Ulsan, a southeastern city that boasts high income levels, surged from 2.3 percent to 5.4 percent.
By gender, the number of male investors rose 21.9 percent to 2.7 million, while female investors rose 24.7 percent to 1.6 million.

By Moon Gwang-lip Staff Reporter [joe@joongang.co.kr]