The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on January 3 of 2023 that the annual foreign direct investments (FDIs) for 2022 increased by 3.2 percent to USD 30.5 billion. The FDIs that actually arrived in Korea over the same period declined 3.1 percent to $18.0 billion.
A robust manufacturing base and system improvement efforts boosted FDI to historic highs despite global economic uncertainties, and contributed to an increase in investment and employment.
By industry, investment pledged to the manufacturing sector leaped 149.4 percent to $12.5 billion in 2022. FDI arrived jumped 120.3 percent to $6.5 billion. Textiles and clothing (up 3,402.5 percent), chemical engineering (up 482.5 percent), processed metals (up 399.0 percent), electrical and electronics (135.6 percent) and food products (82.4 percent) are business categories that grew.
The service sector for 2022 suffered a drop in pledged investment of $16.6 billion, down 29.6 percent from last year. The FDI arrived fell 27.0 percent to $11.2 billion. Investments in transportation and storage (up 198.1 percent) and wholesale/retail (up 19.1 percent) advanced, while those for categories like business support/lease (down 99.1 percent) and leisure/sports/entertainment diminished (down 69.3 percent).
By region, FDI commitments from the U.S. rose by 65.2 percent to $8.7 billion and those arrived hiked 18.4 percent to $3.0 billion.
Investment from the EU decreased 36.9 percent to $8.1 billion and that actually arrived amounted to $7.1 billion, down 12.2 percent.
FDI pledges from Japan to Korea climbed 26.3 percent to $1.5 billion, and those actually arrived soared 42.9 percent to $1.0 billion.
Investments pledged from China and other regions (Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Malaysia) slid 31.6 percent to $5.2 billion, and those actually arrived dropped 42.1 percent to $2.9 billion.
By type, greenfield investment pledged to Korea gained 23.4 percent to $22.3 billion, and that arrived saw a 22.8 percent increase to $12.8 billion.
For M&A investments of 2022, FDI pledged recorded $8.1 billion, declining 28.8 percent. M&A investments that arrived recorded $5.2 billion, down 36.1 percent.
Source: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy