47% of Mid-Sized Companies Have Investment Plans This Year Despite Domestic and Global Instability

Korea Federation of Middle Market Enterprises Announces Results of "2026 Investment Outlook Survey for Mid-Sized Companies"

Despite ongoing instability in both domestic and global economic conditions, 46.9% of mid-sized companies in Korea have established investment plans for this year.

The Korea Federation of Middle Market Enterprises announced the results of its "2026 Investment Outlook Survey for Mid-Sized Companies" on January 14. The survey was conducted from November 17 to November 28 of last year, targeting 650 mid-sized companies.

The results showed that among mid-sized companies with investment plans for this year, 73.8% plan to invest in the first half of the year and 67.9% in the second half. In terms of investment scale, 46.2% intend to increase their investment compared to the previous year, while 37.4% plan to maintain the same level, totaling 83.6%. Meanwhile, 16.4% of companies expect to reduce their investment compared to the previous year.

The main factors cited for expanding investment were "expansion of core businesses (29.1%)," "improvement or replacement of outdated facilities (22.0%)," "strengthening entry into new businesses (21.3%)," and "expansion into overseas markets (20.6%)." On the other hand, mid-sized companies expecting to reduce investment compared to the previous year pointed to "sluggish domestic market (42.0%)," "concerns over economic downturn (24.0%)," "increased production costs (16.0%)," and "high interest rates and difficulties in securing funds (8.0%)" as the reasons.

The main types of investment planned for this year are "domestic facility investment (78.7%)," "domestic R&D investment (35.4%)," and "overseas investment (19.3%)," in that order. The purposes of investment were identified as "maintenance or repair of existing facilities (39.7%)," "new construction or expansion of factories (22.3%)," "R&D (14.4%)," "digital transformation (6.6%)," "mergers and acquisitions (5.2%)," and "eco-friendly/ESG (4.3%)."

Among the 53.1% of mid-sized companies that stated they have no investment plans, the reasons given were "industries where investment is unnecessary (34.2%)," "uncertain market conditions (28.7%)," "deterioration in business performance (20.9%)," "completion of previous investments (9.3%)," and "lack of new investment opportunities (4.9%)."

Specifically, manufacturing mid-sized companies cited "uncertain market conditions (30.9%)" and "deterioration in business performance (29.3%)" as their main reasons, while non-manufacturing mid-sized companies pointed to "industries where investment is unnecessary (44.6%)" and "uncertain market conditions (27.5%)" as primary factors.

Methods of securing investment funds among mid-sized companies were "utilization of internal funds (48.2%)," "bank loans (39.0%)," "issuance of stocks or corporate bonds (6.4%)," and "use of policy finance (5.7%)," in that order.

Additionally, mid-sized company representatives said that in order to revitalize investment among mid-sized companies, policy support is needed, including "corporate tax cuts and expanded tax incentives for R&D and facility investment (40.3%)," "price stabilization and stimulation of domestic demand (18.9%)," "interest rate cuts (15.8%)," "expansion of policy finance (11.7%)," "improvement of management environment including labor (9.1%)," and "relaxation of investment regulations such as site restrictions (3.5%)."

Park Yanggyun, Director of Policy at the Korea Federation of Middle Market Enterprises, stated, "Although investment sentiment has somewhat contracted due to internal and external instability, policy capabilities should be focused on devising forward-looking support measures that reflect on-the-ground needs in areas such as taxation and finance, so that the investment intentions of nearly half of mid-sized companies can be quickly realized."