Korea market data · updated with each research note
Foreign Investors in Korean Stocks
How much foreign investors are buying or selling on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ, from daily Korea Exchange (KRX) data back to 2004: daily net buying, running totals, the latest day’s most-bought and most-sold stocks, and how foreigners compare with local institutions and retail investors.
KOSPI, Oct 23, 2026
Foreign investors net sold KRW 0.98tn ($0.74bn) of KOSPI shares · 1 straight day of net selling · KRW 1,326 per USD
Year to date they have net sold KRW 208.30tn on the KOSPI and net bought KRW 2.12tn on the KOSDAQ.
Daily foreign net buying, last 12 months
Each bar is one trading day of foreign net buying on the KOSPI (navy) or net selling (red), in trillions of won, with the KOSPI above for comparison.
Running total since 2020
Cumulative foreign net buying from January 2020, weekly, for the KOSPI and the KOSDAQ.
Most bought and sold by foreigners, Oct 23, 2026
Net purchases by foreign investors on the latest trading day, KOSPI and KOSDAQ combined, in billions of won.
| Net bought | KRW | USD |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung E&A028050 · KOSPI | KRW 175.2bn | $132m |
| Hanwha Ocean042660 · KOSPI | KRW 20.7bn | $16m |
| GS Holdings078930 · KOSPI | KRW 15.6bn | $12m |
| SK Innovation096770 · KOSPI | KRW 15.0bn | $11m |
| LG Innotek011070 · KOSPI | KRW 14.6bn | $11m |
| LG Electronics066570 · KOSPI | KRW 13.2bn | $10m |
| Leeno Industrial058470 · KOSDAQ | KRW 12.8bn | $10m |
| Hpsp403870 · KOSDAQ | KRW 12.1bn | $9m |
| APR278470 · KOSPI | KRW 11.2bn | $8m |
| Hyundai Rotem064350 · KOSPI | KRW 11.1bn | $8m |
| Net sold | KRW | USD |
|---|---|---|
| SK hynix000660 · KOSPI | −KRW 573.1bn | −$432m |
| Samsung Electronics005930 · KOSPI | −KRW 180.0bn | −$136m |
| Samsung Electro Mechanics009150 · KOSPI | −KRW 136.4bn | −$103m |
| SK Square402340 · KOSPI | −KRW 101.5bn | −$77m |
| Samsung SDI006400 · KOSPI | −KRW 34.0bn | −$26m |
| KB Financial Group105560 · KOSPI | −KRW 31.0bn | −$23m |
| Samsung SDS018260 · KOSPI | −KRW 22.8bn | −$17m |
| SK034730 · KOSPI | −KRW 21.0bn | −$16m |
| Samsung C&T028260 · KOSPI | −KRW 19.4bn | −$15m |
| Woori Financial Group316140 · KOSPI | −KRW 19.0bn | −$14m |
Foreigners vs local investors
Net buying by investor type on Oct 23, 2026 and over the last 20 trading days. The four groups roughly offset each other because every trade has a buyer and a seller.
| Investor type | KOSPI, day | KOSPI, 20 days | KOSDAQ, day | KOSDAQ, 20 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign investors | −KRW 0.98tn | −KRW 27.15tn | −KRW 0.04tn | −KRW 0.89tn |
| Institutions | KRW 0.87tn | KRW 0.67tn | −KRW 0.03tn | −KRW 0.05tn |
| Retail investors | KRW 0.04tn | KRW 8.46tn | KRW 0.07tn | KRW 0.93tn |
| Other corporations | KRW 0.07tn | KRW 18.02tn | KRW 0.00tn | −KRW 0.00tn |
About this data
- Source. Korea Exchange (KRX) trading by investor type: net buying = value bought minus value sold, by registered foreign investors (individuals and institutions, including those trading through omnibus accounts). Stock names are KRX English short names.
- Dollar figures use KRW 1,326 per USD, the latest won-dollar rate in the dataset, for every row.
- Updates. The page is refreshed when new research is published on this site, so the date above is the last trading day included.
- Foreign ownership. On Oct 23, 2026 foreign investors held 38.5% of the KOSPI and 11.3% of the KOSDAQ by market value (KRX foreign holdings by stock, weighted by market cap), so their flows move the index and the won. See Korea and MSCI and the K-Expectation Index.
Market data for information only. It is not investment advice.
Follow foreign investor flows every Saturday
One email every Saturday with the week’s new research on Korean listed companies and links to the updated data pages. Built from DART filings and KRX data. Free; unsubscribe in one click. See past issues