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S. Korea's net overseas financial assets surpass $1 trillion for first time in 2024

Published: 27 Feb. 2025, 16:44

SHIN HA-NEE
[email protected]

A pedestrian walks by an electronic board displaying closing rates of Korean stock markets at the Korea Exchange headquarters in western Seoul on Dec. 30, 2024. [NEWS1]

Korea's net overseas financial assets hit a record high last year, surpassing $1 trillion for the first time ever, central bank data showed Thursday.

Last year's U.S. stock market rally drove the steep jump in assets, while the foreign capital outflow brought Korea's external debt down.

The country's net international investment position came to $1.1 trillion as of end-2024, up $292 billion from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It marked the largest amount ever, and Korea became the world's seventh country to report net overseas financial assets worth over $1 trillion.

In detail, the country's external financial assets came to a record high of $2.49 trillion as of end-December, up $166.3 billion from a year earlier, on the back of increased stock investments and investment returns.

The external financial debt, however, fell by $125.7 billion to come to $1.39 trillion, the data showed.

BY YONHAP, SHIN HA-NEE [[email protected]]