Market Capitalization Ranking

The market capitalization of Samsung Electronicst, jumped 12 spots to 25th in the world.
The market capitalization of Samsung Electronicst, jumped 12 spots to 25th in the world.

 

The combined market capitalization of South Korean firms listed on the main and secondary bourse has retained the 11th spot in the world for two years in a row. However, the market capitalization of Samsung Electronics, which accounts for 19 percent in the KOSPI stock market, jumped 12 spots to 25th in the world as its stock prices increased about 60 percent last year.

According to Bloomberg News on January 1, the combined market cap of the world stock markets last year reached US$66.84 trillion (80,902. 53 trillion won), up 3.52 percent from the previous year. However, the market capitalization of South Korean firms rose as low as 1.1 percent to US$1.21 trillion (1,469.3 trillion won) during the same period from US$1.2 trillion (1,453.21 trillion won) of the previous year. Accordingly, the share of the Korean stock market in the global stock market slightly decreased from 1.85 percent in 2015 to 1.82 percent last year. It maintained 11th place for two consecutive years.

The U.S. market capitalization, which ranked first in the world, stood at US$25.2 trillion (30,507.53 trillion won), up 7.05 percent from the previous year. Its share in the global market capitalization also rose from 36.62 percent to 37.71 percent. The combined market capitalization of China, which is the second largest in the world, decreased 8.53 percent to US$6.49 trillion (7,851.74 trillion won) last year. Its share in the global stock market also went down from 10.92 percent to 9.71 percent.

Japan's stock market, the third-largest, saw its market capitalization increase 1.08 percent to US$5.08 trillion (6,154.04 trillion won) in 2016, compared with the previous year. Hong Kong came in fourth place with US$4.01 trillion (4,859.51 trillion won), followed by the U.K. with US$3.1 trillion (3,748 trillion won).

By company, the market capitalization of Samsung Electronics climbed up 12 notches from 37th to 25th in 2015 with US$209.9 billion (254.06 trillion won). Three domestic companies included in the global top 500 in terms of market cap – Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, which ranked 443th, and Hyundai Motor, which took 450th place. All companies in the top 10 by global market cap were U.S. companies – Apple, Google, Microsoft, Berkshire Hathaway, Exxon Mobil, Amazon, Facebook, Johnson & Johnson, JP Morgan and General Electric.

 

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