One out of five starts investing after COVID-19 outbreak, says a survey

A survey shows that one out of five South Koreans started investing in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak. This trend was more pronounced among those in their 20s with over 30 percent reporting to have gotten into investing.

According to a survey of investor behavior amid the COVID-19 pandemic published by the Korea Financial Investors Protection Foundation on Wednesday, 19.0 percent of the respondents said they got started investing or got back into the market after the outbreak of the coronavirus. The survey was conducted among 2,000 adults between the ages of 20 and 64 from October 27 to November 16 last year.

By age, 29.0 percent of 20-somethings said they started investing after the pandemic took hold, followed by those in their 30s (20.5 percent), 40s (20.1 percent), and 50s (12.6 percent). It goes to show that more young people are now turning to investing in order to grow wealth.

According to the survey, 58.8 percent of the respondents have invested in at least one of the following - coronavirus-related stocks, U.S. tech stocks, virtual currency or derivatives. COVID-19-related stocks were most popular with 41.9 percent saying they invested in them, followed by U.S. tech stocks (28.6 percent), derivatives (22.0 percent), and virtual currency (15.9 percent).

Meanwhile, 27.3 percent of the respondents said that they have cut back on spending in case their income decreases and adjusted their financial plans to buy a house or for retirement after the pandemic hit.


Na-Ri Shin journari@donga.com