SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) in South Korea hit a record high last year owing to surging investment in the manufacturing industry, government data showed Tuesday.
The reported FDI grew 3.2 percent over the year to 30.45 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, topping 30 billion dollars for the first time, according to Statistics Korea.
The FDI in the manufacturing industry soared 149.4 percent to reach a record high of 12.48 billion dollars last year, but foreign investment in the domestic services sector declined 29.6 percent to 16.59 billion dollars.
Direct investment from the United States expanded 65.2 percent to 8.69 billion dollars, but investment from the European Union tumbled 36.9 percent to 8.07 billion dollars.
Greenfield investment, which involves factory construction and employment, jumped 23.4 percent to hit a new high of 22.32 billion dollars in 2022, but the merger and acquisition investment shrank 28.8 percent to 8.14 billion dollars. ■
