Overseas Investment and Spending to be Highest Ever This Year

Overseas investment and spending are expected to be the highest ever this year as corporate and individual spending soared.

Meanwhile, domestic investment and spending are expected to be weak.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) and the Bank of Korea announced on Monday that Korea’s corporate overseas investment from January to September was $6.54 billion, a 15.3 percent increase from $5.67 billion during the same time last year. Overseas investment is investment by a large company, a small and medium-sized enterprise, or an individual entrepreneur which entails buying a 10 percent or higher stake of a foreign corporation.

The MOFE said if the rising trend continues in the fourth quarter (October to December), this year’s annual overseas investment would reach $8.73 billion, exceeding last year’s $8.06 billion, which was the highest ever.

In addition, the amount spent by individuals traveling or studying overseas from January to September is estimated to have been $9.98 trillion to $10.29 trillion. This nears the $10.717 trillion figure of last year.

The MOFE said, “Given that overseas spending in the first and second quarters this year jumped by 20 percent each year-on-year, the annual overseas spending figure for this year is set to be the highest ever.”

On the other hand, domestic investment and spending are unlikely to be higher than those of last year.

The National Statistics Office recently published the Industrial Activity Trends, in which it said the year-on-year rate of increase for capital expenditure dropped 0.7 percent in August and 2.0 percent in September. With the 100 level at year 2000, the estimated capital expenditure record this September is estimated at 91.8, the lowest in 20 months since last January.

Household real-term consumption for the second quarter (April to June) of this year fell 0.1 percent from the same time last year.

legman@donga.com