The concentration of domestic listed companies in the Seoul metropolitan area remains pronounced. More than seven out of 10 listed companies have their headquarters in Seoul, Gyeonggi, or Incheon, and the provinces that saw the largest increases in the number of listed companies this year were also the metropolitan area and adjacent regions.
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX) on the 28th, of the 2,791 corporations listed on KOSPI, KOSDAQ, and KONEX as of the previous day, 2,029 had headquarters in the metropolitan area, accounting for 72.7% of the total. By region, Seoul had the most at 1,109 (39.7%), followed by Gyeonggi Province with 821 (29.4%) and Incheon with 99 (3.5%).
Among areas outside the metropolitan region, listed companies were relatively numerous in South Chungcheong (111), North Chungcheong (97), South Gyeongsang (97), Busan (83), North Gyeongsang (69), Daejeon (66), and Daegu (59). In contrast, North Jeolla (37), Ulsan (29), Gangwon (28), South Jeolla (24), Gwangju (20), Sejong (13), and Jeju (8) had fewer listed companies.
The tilt toward the metropolitan area was also clear by market. Of the 847 KOSPI-listed corporations, 611 (72.1%) had headquarters in the metropolitan area; for KOSDAQ, 1,341 (73.4%); and for KONEX, 76 (65.0%) were located in Seoul, Gyeonggi, or Incheon.
The concentration in the metropolitan area was also high among newly listed companies entering the stock market. The region with the largest increase in the number of listed companies this year was Gyeonggi Province, up 25 from 796 at the end of last year. South Chungcheong, Incheon, and Daejeon each added four, followed by North Chungcheong (three), Busan (two), and Seoul (one). In contrast, Gangwon and Gwangju each saw their number of listed companies decline by one.
Given that the total number of listed companies on the stock market, KOSDAQ, and KONEX rose by 41 from 2,750 to 2,791 over the same period, a significant share of new listings clustered in the metropolitan area.
The concentration becomes even more pronounced by market capitalization. As of this year, the combined market capitalization of 2,029 metropolitan-area listed companies was 3,238 trillion won, accounting for 82.7% of the total 3,914 trillion won market cap of all listed corporations. This indicates that large-cap listed companies are concentrated in the metropolitan area.
By province, Gyeonggi Province, home to the headquarters of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, stood at 1,715 trillion won (43.8%), far outpacing Seoul (1,345 trillion won, 34.4%), which ranked first last year. They were followed by South Gyeongsang (195 trillion won, 5.0%), Incheon (178 trillion won, 4.6%), Daejeon (80 trillion won, 2.0%), North Gyeongsang (76 trillion won, 1.9%), Ulsan (61 trillion won, 1.6%), North Chungcheong (57 trillion won, 1.5%), and South Jeolla (38 trillion won, 1.0%).
However, despite KOSPI surging more than 70% this year, the share of metropolitan-area listed companies in total market capitalization was 82.7%, showing little change from last year (82.8%). This is seen as reflecting substantial gains in the share prices of non-metropolitan listed companies as well.
In fact, the region with the highest growth rate in market capitalization from a year earlier was South Gyeongsang, which jumped 177.7% from 70 trillion won to 195 trillion won. The market capitalization of South Jeolla-listed companies also rose 129.2% over the same period, from 16 trillion won to 38 trillion won. In contrast, the market capitalization growth rate for Gyeonggi Province-listed companies was 106.8%, while Seoul and Incheon rose 42.0% and 33.1%, respectively.