It was found that the size of cash dividends by corporations on the Korea Exchange with December settlement of account hit a record high last year.
The Korea Exchange (KRX) said on the 20th that, according to its analysis of dividend status for corporations with December settlement of account on the stock market, the total dividends of 566 corporations that paid dividends among those with December settlement of account last year amounted to 3.51 trillion won. This is up 15.5% from the previous year (3.03 trillion won).
The average dividend yield on common shares was 2.63%, and preferred shares were 3.06%, down 0.42 percentage point and 0.64 percentage point, respectively, from the previous year. The exchange said, "As the share prices of dividend-paying corporations rose 32.9% from the previous year, the dividend yield fell, but it still exceeds the 2025 treasury bond yield (2.43%)."
The average payout ratio was 39.83%, up 5.09 percentage points from the previous year (34.74%).
Of the 314 corporations with December settlement of account that filed value-up disclosures, 304 (96.8%) paid dividends, and their dividends amounted to 3.08 trillion won, accounting for 87.7% of the total. Both their dividend yield and payout ratio were above the overall average.
Dividends from 255 corporations that issued high-dividend disclosures totaled 2.27 trillion won, accounting for 64.9% of the total, and they also showed higher dividend yields and payout ratios than the averages.
The exchange said, "The aggregates of cash dividends by corporations with December settlement of account in 2025 increased significantly from the previous year, extending the expansion trend for the fourth straight year," adding, "In particular, value-up disclosure corporations are leading improvements in corporate value and invigorating the stock market through active shareholder returns."
Meanwhile, among corporations with December settlement of account on the KOSDAQ market, the total dividends of dividend-paying corporations (666) jumped 34.8% from the previous year to 310 billion won. The average dividend yield and payout ratio were 2.637% and 37.4%, respectively. Both are at a record high in the past five years.
Among 315 corporations that filed value-up disclosures, 273 (86.7%) issued high-dividend disclosures. These corporations' dividend performance exceeded the overall averages. The average dividend per corporation was 6.41 billion won, 37% higher than the average for all dividend-paying corporations; the average payout ratio was 49.5%, exceeding by 12.1 percentage points; and the average dividend yield was 3.58%, exceeding by 35.8%.