South Korea Equity Market Reaches $5 Trillion, Surpasses India
South Korea’s listed companies now hold $5 trillion in market value, moving the country ahead of India to sixth place globally. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix drove most of the gain through memory-chip demand tied to artificial-intelligence systems.
Japan TimesSouth Korea’s equity market capitalization reached $5 trillion, placing the country sixth among world stock markets and ahead of India’s $4.8 trillion valuation. The total value of companies listed in South Korea rose 86 percent this year while India’s capitalization declined over the same period.
Both companies produce memory chips used in artificial-intelligence systems. South Korea passed Canada and several European markets earlier in 2026 on the same capitalization measure.
Taiwan’s market capitalization has also risen in global rankings, reflecting investor attention on semiconductor suppliers. The two chip-producing economies now rank higher than before the current expansion in artificial-intelligence spending. Some observers have noted that rapid valuation growth can create concentration risk when a small number of companies dominate market indexes.
“South Korea’s equity market has overtaken India’s as the world’s sixth largest, driven by a relentless surge in chip heavyweights powering the global artificial intelligence build-out.”
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