The number of stock investors in South Korea inched up from a year earlier in 2024 amid a bearish market trend, industry data showed Monday.
A total of 14.23 million investors held shares in 2,687 companies listed on the country's main and secondary bourses, up 0.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Securities Depository.
Retail investors in those corporations closing their books in December numbered 14.1 million, or 99.1 percent of the total.
Local corporate investors stood at 56,000, with foreign individuals and institutions reaching 30,000.
By company, investors holding shares in top-cap Samsung Electronics Co. were the largest group at 5.67 million, and Kakao Corp., the operator of KakaoTalk, came next with 1.69 million, followed by leading internet portal operator Naver with 910,000.
Offshore investors held 50 percent or more of shares in 32 local listed companies, with Tongyang Life Insurance Co. posting the highest foreign ownership ratio of 82.7 percent. (Yonhap)
