SEOUL, June 21 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's overseas direct investment fell in double digits in the first quarter due to lingering worry about geopolitical risks, government data showed Friday.
Overseas investment through the purchase of foreign stocks and the establishment of foreign offices stood at 15.09 billion U.S. dollars in the January-March quarter, down 14.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
It turned downward after growing 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Overseas investment in the finance and insurance and the manufacturing industries dived in double figures to 5.50 billion dollars and 4.05 billion dollars, respectively.
Investment in the real estate and the science and technology sectors more than doubled to 2.24 billion dollars and 930 million dollars each.
Direct investment in North America dipped 31.0 percent from a year earlier to 6.75 billion dollars in the first quarter, but investment in Europe jumped 58.2 percent to 3.7 billion dollars.
Investment in Asia and Latin America declined to 2.15 billion dollars and 1.86 billion dollars each. ■