The most held Korean stock at the end of 2024 was Samsung Electronics, with 5,667,792 owners. Following were Kakao with 1,692,086 owners, NAVER with 907,445, LG Energy Solution with 796,061, and POSCO Holdings with 782,520. In the KOSDAQ market alone, ECOPRO BM had 552,604 owners and Ecopro had 441,779, making them the top two companies in terms of stock ownership.
The Korea Securities Depository announced on the 17th the status of stock ownership of listed companies for the 2024 settlement of accounts, stating that among 2,687 listed companies' stockholders at the end of last year, the count was 1,423 after excluding duplicates. This is a 0.5% increase compared to the end of 2023. Individuals accounted for the majority at 14 million, followed by corporations at 56,000 and foreigners at 30,000.
Individuals invested in an average of 5.79 stocks. The average number of owned stocks was 4,112. Foreigners and institutions invested in 9.79 and 7.12 stocks, respectively. By market, the individual investment ratio in the KOSPI market was limited to 36.6%, while it was significant at 65% for the KOSDAQ market and 62.5% for the KONEX market.
When classified by age, individuals whose number of owned stocks indicated that those in their 50s accounted for 34.6%, the largest share. This was followed by those in their 60s at 25.1%, 40s at 20%, 70s at 6.6%, 30s at 7%, those in their 80s and above at 2.6%, 20s at 1.6%, and those below 20 at 0.5%. By gender, males accounted for 71.8% and females for 28.2%. In terms of the ratio of owners to the population, Seoul had the highest at 36.6%, followed by Ulsan at 32.5%, Sejong at 29.1%, Daejeon at 28.2%, and Gyeonggi at 27.3%.
When considering residence, gender, and age, the largest number of individual investors were 50-year-old females in Suwon, Gyeonggi (44,799 individuals), 40-year-old males in Suwon, Gyeonggi (42,943), and 50-year-old females in Yongin, Gyeonggi (42,519). Based on the number of owned stocks, the highest was 50-year-old males in Gangnam, Seoul (1,390,880,000 shares) and 60-year-old males (1,002,160,000 shares).
The stock in the KOSPI market with the highest foreign ownership ratio was TONGYANG Life Insurance at 82.7%. This was followed by KB Financial at 73.7% and S-Oil at 72.7%. In the KOSDAQ market, Korea Ratings had a ratio of 79.7%, and TOKAI CARBON KOREA was at 70.4%.