Who holds Korean securities abroad
75 countries told the IMF how much they hold in Korean portfolio securities — equities, bonds, and fund shares — as of 2024. Summed together, that is at least $636.2B. This is a floor, not a total: countries that do not report to the survey are simply absent, not counted as zero.
Why you can trust this number — and why it is a floor
- Korea does not report who holds its own securities — the IMF's survey only collects what a country holds abroad. We get this ranking by flipping the data around: summing every other country's own disclosure of what it holds in Korea.
- 75 countries disclosed a Korea position for 2024. Major economies that do not participate in this IMF survey — China among them — are not in this list at all, not counted as zero. The true total is higher than what is shown here.
- Figures mix onshore and financial-centre holders — Luxembourg, Ireland and the Cayman Islands rank highly mostly because global funds are domiciled there, not because those countries' own savers hold Korean assets directly.
- The full computation is open —
collect-imf-pip-mirror.mjsandbuild-foreign-holdings-page.mjsin our repository, sourced from IMF SDMX data with no manual adjustment.
75 countries reported a position · 2024 · compared with 2023 where filed
| # | Country | Holding (2024) | Share | vs 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States USA | $195.4B | 30.7% | -22.6% |
| 2 | Singapore SGP | $73.9B | 11.6% | -15.9% |
| 3 | United Kingdom GBR | $49.7B | 7.8% | +24.9% |
| 4 | Hong Kong HKG | $39B | 6.1% | +25.1% |
| 5 | Luxembourg LUX | $38.2B | 6.0% | -20.6% |
| 6 | Ireland IRL | $29.8B | 4.7% | -18.1% |
| 7 | Norway NOR | $27.1B | 4.3% | +12.4% |
| 8 | France FRA | $21.5B | 3.4% | +8.4% |
| 9 | Cayman Islands CYM | $17.8B | 2.8% | -10.1% |
| 10 | Japan JPN | $15.5B | 2.4% | -21.9% |
| 11 | Australia AUS | $15.1B | 2.4% | -11.3% |
| 12 | Switzerland CHE | $12.3B | 1.9% | -21.2% |
| 13 | Germany DEU | $12.2B | 1.9% | -10.2% |
| 14 | Saudi Arabia SAU | $12.1B | 1.9% | +10.7% |
| 15 | Canada CAN | $12B | 1.9% | -19.5% |
| 16 | Netherlands NLD | $11.2B | 1.8% | -23.0% |
| 17 | China CHN | $10.6B | 1.7% | -6.8% |
| 18 | Bermuda BMU | $8.4B | 1.3% | -7.6% |
| 19 | Sweden SWE | $5.5B | 0.9% | -9.6% |
| 20 | Malaysia MYS | $5.2B | 0.8% | -4.2% |
| 21 | Italy ITA | $3.8B | 0.6% | -4.8% |
| 22 | Macao MAC | $2.7B | 0.4% | -7.1% |
| 23 | Denmark DNK | $2.7B | 0.4% | -22.5% |
| 24 | Brazil BRA | $2.3B | 0.4% | +30.8% |
| 25 | Thailand THA | $1.7B | 0.3% | -2.0% |
| 26 | Belgium BEL | $1.5B | 0.2% | -6.6% |
| 27 | Finland FIN | $1.3B | 0.2% | -2.2% |
| 28 | Spain ESP | $1.2B | 0.2% | +2.4% |
| 29 | Guernsey GGY | $0.9B | 0.1% | -18.0% |
| 30 | Bahrain BHR | $0.8B | 0.1% | +8.5% |
| 31 | Kazakhstan KAZ | $0.7B | 0.1% | +46.2% |
| 32 | Austria AUT | $0.6B | 0.1% | -35.8% |
| 33 | Philippines PHL | $0.6B | 0.1% | -26.0% |
| 34 | Mexico MEX | $0.6B | 0.1% | +1590.4% |
| 35 | Jersey JEY | $0.5B | 0.1% | -93.3% |
| 36 | Kuwait KWT | $0.4B | 0.1% | +39.7% |
| 37 | Slovakia SVK | $0.2B | 0.0% | -14.3% |
| 38 | Israel ISR | $0.2B | 0.0% | +18.1% |
| 39 | Cyprus CYP | $0.2B | 0.0% | +44.2% |
| 40 | South Africa ZAF | $0.1B | 0.0% | -28.1% |
| 41 | Hungary HUN | $0.1B | 0.0% | +29.3% |
| 42 | Portugal PRT | $0.1B | 0.0% | -37.0% |
| 43 | Slovenia SVN | $0.1B | 0.0% | -30.9% |
| 44 | Chile CHL | $0.1B | 0.0% | -3.2% |
| 45 | New Zealand NZL | $0.1B | 0.0% | -47.9% |
| 46 | Mauritius MUS | $0.1B | 0.0% | +5.7% |
| 47 | Panama PAN | $0B | 0.0% | +2501.7% |
| 48 | Bulgaria BGR | $0B | 0.0% | -17.0% |
| 49 | Indonesia IDN | $0B | 0.0% | +119.8% |
| 50 | Poland POL | $0B | 0.0% | +347.8% |
| 51 | Czechia CZE | $0B | 0.0% | -8.9% |
| 52 | Mongolia MNG | $0B | 0.0% | -3.1% |
| 53 | India IND | $0B | 0.0% | -85.7% |
| 54 | Colombia COL | $0B | 0.0% | -57.8% |
| 55 | Greece GRC | $0B | 0.0% | -43.6% |
| 56 | Albania ALB | $0B | 0.0% | -32.8% |
| 57 | Estonia EST | $0B | 0.0% | +13.6% |
| 58 | Latvia LVA | $0B | 0.0% | +88.0% |
| 59 | Iceland ISL | $0B | 0.0% | +177.2% |
| 60 | Aruba ABW | $0B | 0.0% | -81.8% |
| 61 | Gibraltar GIB | $0B | 0.0% | — |
| 62 | Lithuania LTU | $0B | 0.0% | -18.9% |
| 63 | Uruguay URY | $0B | 0.0% | -92.9% |
| 64 | Romania ROU | $0B | 0.0% | +157.8% |
| 65 | Costa Rica CRI | $0B | 0.0% | — |
| 66 | North Macedonia MKD | $0B | 0.0% | — |
| 67 | Lebanon LBN | $0B | 0.0% | -90.9% |
| 68 | Turkey TUR | $0B | 0.0% | — |
| 69 | Argentina ARG | $0B | 0.0% | — |
| 70 | Bangladesh BGD | $0B | 0.0% | — |
| 71 | Bahamas BHS | $0B | 0.0% | — |
| 72 | Belarus BLR | $0B | 0.0% | — |
| 73 | Honduras HND | $0B | 0.0% | — |
| 74 | Kosovo KOS | $0B | 0.0% | — |
| 75 | El Salvador SLV | $0B | 0.0% | — |
Frequently asked
Who holds the most Korean securities?
As of 2024, the United States reports the largest holding among countries that disclose to the IMF, at roughly $195.4B — about 30.7% of the total shown here. This is a lower bound; see below.
Why is this a lower bound and not the full total?
This ranking sums what other countries report holding in Korean securities (IMF Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey). Korea itself does not separately report who holds its own securities — only what it holds abroad. Countries that do not participate in the survey, including China, are absent from this total. 75 countries reported for 2024.
What counts as "Korean securities" here?
Total portfolio investment position — equity, investment fund shares, and long- and short-term debt securities combined — held by residents of the reporting country in Korean issuers, at the reported valuation date.
Source
International Monetary Fund, Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey (data.imf.org) — mirror method (see above). Data as of 17/09/2026, 15:45:15 KST. Not investment advice.