Last Year's Average Daily FX Transactions Hit Record High Since Statistics Revision... Driven by Surge in Overseas Investments

Bank of Korea Releases "2025 Trends in Foreign Exchange Transactions by Foreign Exchange Banks"

Last year, both overseas securities investments by residents and domestic securities investments by foreigners increased, leading to the highest daily average foreign exchange transaction volume by banks since the statistics were revised.

On the 19th, domestic and foreign nationals were inquiring about currency exchange at a bank's currency exchange counter at Incheon Airport. Photo by Yonhap News

According to the "2025 Trends in Foreign Exchange Transactions by Foreign Exchange Banks" released by the Bank of Korea on January 23, the average daily foreign exchange transactions (including spot and derivatives transactions) by foreign exchange banks last year amounted to 80.71 billion dollars, up by 11.74 billion dollars (17.0%) from 68.96 billion dollars in 2024. This is the highest annual figure since the statistics were revised in 2008. Both the absolute increase and the growth rate were the largest since the revision of the statistics.

An official from the Bank of Korea explained, "This result is due to the continued impact of extended foreign exchange market trading hours, as well as a significant increase in transactions related to overseas securities investments by residents and domestic securities investments by foreigners."

Based on the balance of payments, overseas securities investments by residents rose by 79.2%, from 72.2 billion dollars annually in 2024 to 129.4 billion dollars from January to November last year. During the same period, domestic securities investments by foreigners also increased by 129.1%, from 22 billion dollars to 50.4 billion dollars.

By product, spot foreign exchange transactions reached 32.38 billion dollars, an increase of 6.7 billion dollars (26.1%) from the previous year, while foreign exchange derivatives transactions amounted to 48.33 billion dollars, up by 5.04 billion dollars (11.6%) year-on-year.

By type of bank, domestic banks recorded a transaction volume of 37.54 billion dollars, an increase of 6.58 billion dollars (21.2%) from the previous year. Foreign bank branches posted a transaction volume of 43.17 billion dollars, up by 5.17 billion dollars (13.6%) year-on-year.