The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced today that the accumulated foreign direct investments (FDIs) pledged to Korea through January–September in 2024 (Q1–Q3) rose 5.2 percent year-on-year to an unprecedented USD 25.2 billion.


The manufacturing sector soared 36.4 percent to $12.3 billion, renewing the quarterly high reached in Q3 2023. Electrical/electronics (up 35.9 percent to $4.5 billion), machinery/equipment/precision medicine (up 128.5 percent to $1.7 billion), and pharmaceuticals (up 136.4 percent to $0.7 billion) are among sectors that enjoyed steep climbs. Meanwhile, the service sector slowed to $12.0 billion (down 13.3 percent) as a result of the base effect from last year’s large-scale investments.


FDI pledged from Japan hit historic highs at $4.7 billion (up 412.7 percent), followed by investments from China (up 316.3 percent to $4.6 billion), the EU (down 1.4 percent to $4.0 billion), and the U.S. (down 39.9 percent to $3.1 billion).


By type, M&A investments pledged to Korea shrank 12.7 percent to $6.3 billion, whereas greenfield investments pledged to Korea grew 12.9 percent to $18.9 billion.


FDI commitments made to non-capital regions hiked 2.7 percentage points to 26.4 percent of the entire FDI pledged to Korea.