37% of Mid-sized Companies Plan to Invest in the Second Half of This Year

Korea Federation of Middle Market Enterprises Announces Results of "2025 Second Half Investment Outlook Survey for Mid-sized Companies"

Despite ongoing uncertainties such as mutual tariffs with the United States, the investment sentiment among domestic mid-sized companies is showing some signs of recovery.

On the 15th, the Korea Federation of Middle Market Enterprises announced the results of its "2025 Second Half Investment Outlook Survey for Mid-sized Companies." The survey was conducted from May 26 to June 10, 2025, targeting 800 mid-sized companies.

According to the survey results, 37.2% of mid-sized companies stated that they have investment plans for the second half of the year. This figure represents an increase of 12.2 percentage points compared to the same period last year (25.0%). The main types of investment planned by these companies were found to be "domestic facility investment (69.5%)," "domestic R&D investment (40.3%)," and "overseas investment (17.4%)," in that order. Specifically, investments are expected in areas such as "maintenance and repair of existing facilities (36.2%)," "R&D (20.5%)," "new or expanded factory construction (18.8%)," "eco-friendly and ESG initiatives (6.7%)," "mergers and acquisitions (6.0%)," and "digital transformation (5.1%)."

Among the 62.8% of mid-sized companies that stated they have no investment plans for the second half, the main reasons cited were "uncertain market conditions (38.0%)," "industries where investment is unnecessary (25.5%)," "deterioration of business performance (19.3%)," "completion of previous investments (12.4%)," and "no new investment opportunities secured (3.6%)."

Among the mid-sized companies planning to invest in the second half of this year, 79.9% expected their investment scale to either increase (39.3%) or remain the same (40.6%) compared to the first half. Only 20.1% anticipated a reduction in investment scale. Those expecting an increase in investment cited reasons such as "strengthening entry into new businesses (29.0%)," "expansion of core businesses (24.8%)," "improvement or replacement of aging facilities (22.2%)," "expansion into overseas markets (13.7%)," and "expectations of economic recovery (7.7%)." Companies anticipating a decrease in investment pointed to "sluggish domestic market (35.0%)," "concerns over economic downturn (31.7%)," "rising production costs (11.7%)," and "high interest rates and difficulties in securing funding (10.0%)" as the main causes.

As for investment funding methods, "use of internal funds (49.6%)" accounted for the largest share, followed by "bank loans (39.6%)," "issuance of stocks or corporate bonds (5.8%)," and "utilization of policy finance (5.0%)." In addition, mid-sized company representatives responded that policy support is needed to promote investment, including "tax improvements such as expanding tax incentives for R&D and facility investment (37.1%)," "price stability and domestic demand stimulation (22.0%)," "interest rate cuts (17.9%)," "improvement of management environment including labor (10.0%)," "expansion of policy finance (9.0%)," and "relaxation of investment regulations such as site restrictions (3.8%)."

Lee Hojun, Executive Vice Chairman of the Korea Federation of Middle Market Enterprises, stated, "In order to secure the momentum for economic recovery, policy efforts must be made to materialize the somewhat increasing investment outlook of mid-sized companies, which is being driven by expectations of domestic demand recovery following the launch of the new administration, revitalization of the stock market, and political stability." He added, "Given that the determination of mid-sized companies to enhance competitiveness through facility and R&D investment, as well as entry into new businesses, has been confirmed, we will actively communicate with the government and the National Assembly to ensure that effective measures such as bold deregulation, tax support, and strengthening of policy finance are implemented to drive further investment by mid-sized companies."