A surge in investment from the United States and the European Union pushed foreign direct investment in 2025 to $36.05 billion. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on Tuesday that reported foreign direct investment totalled $36.05 billion in 2025.

The amount was the highest on record, up 4.3 percent from a year earlier. Arrivals also rose 16.3 percent from a year earlier to $17.95 billion. That was the third-highest level on record.

Investment fell 14.6 percent through the first half. In the second half, investment sentiment recovered. Confidence in the economy and industry improved after the launch of a new government. The ministry explained that the government's AI policy and investment attraction activities tied to the Gyeongju APEC summit affected the outcome.

Greenfield investment, which is new investment, came to $28.59 billion. It was up 7.1 percent from a year earlier, the highest on record. Mergers and acquisitions totalled $7.46 billion, down 5.1 percent. The pace of decline eased from a 54.0 percent plunge in the third quarter. Greenfield refers to investment that starts a completely new project or builds everything from scratch without prior development.

Investment in manufacturing rose 8.8 percent to $15.77 billion, and chemicals jumped 99.5 percent to $5.81 billion. Metals surged 272.2 percent to $2.74 billion. Investment concentrated especially on core materials aimed at strengthening supply chains. Electrical and electronics fell 31.6 percent to $3.59 billion. Machinery and equipment and medical precision dropped 63.7 percent to $850 million.

The services sector rose 6.8 percent to $19.05 billion. As investment expanded in AI data centres and online platforms, distribution jumped 71.0 percent to $2.93 billion and information and communications rose 9.2 percent to $2.34 billion. Research and development and professional and scientific technology increased 43.6 percent to $1.97 billion. Finance and insurance fell 10.6 percent to $7.45 billion.

Investment from the United States surged 86.6 percent to $9.77 billion, centred on metals, distribution and information and communications. Investment from the European Union rose 35.7 percent to $6.92 billion, centred on chemicals and distribution. Japan fell 28.1 percent to $4.4 billion. China dropped 38.0 percent to $3.59 billion.

A ministry official said it was encouraging that greenfield investment, which has strong effects on revitalising regional economies and creating jobs, recorded the highest result on record, alongside the quantitative growth in foreign direct investment. The official added that high-quality investment inflows linked to advanced industries such as AI, semiconductors and bio are expected to expand and contribute greatly to the development of South Korea's economy and industry.