Risk and sentiment
Korea M1 YoY
Year-over-year growth in Korea's narrow money supply.
At a glance
Korea M1 YoY: latest value and prior change
As of 2026-05-31, Korea M1 YoY is 10.02 %. It is 1.73 pp higher than 8.29 % on 2026-04-30.
Across 260 available observations from 2004-10-31 to 2026-05-31, the latest value is at the tie-adjusted 64th percentile.
- Observed on
- Default comparison window
- 2004-10-31–2026-05-31
- Observations · observed cadence
- 260 · Monthly
- Data source
- Bank of Korea ECOS
A high or low percentile does not by itself make the indicator positive, negative, or a buy or sell signal.
Time-series chart
Korea M1 YoY
2004-10-31–2026-05-31
Long-history series are stored as real provider observations. Index, FX, VIX, and ratio charts use historical backfill where providers expose it; Korean investor flow and margin-credit feeds expand as stable historical endpoints become available.
Interpretation guide
Tracking Korea's most mobile money with M1 growth
Korea M1 YoY measures year-over-year growth in narrow money, which consists of currency in circulation, demand deposits, and instant-access savings deposits, published monthly by the Bank of Korea. Because M1 counts only money that can be spent or invested immediately at near-zero yield, it is the most temperature-sensitive of Korea's monetary aggregates.
Why M1 reacts first
When rates rise, depositors shift funds out of non-interest checkable accounts into time deposits; when rates fall or opportunities appear, the flow reverses. M1 growth therefore swings far more than M2 across policy cycles, and outright negative readings are not unusual in Korea.
- A shift into negative M1 growth is a strong tightening signal, showing money moving from standby into locked form.
- Surges beyond the mid-teens tend to appear in ultra-easy phases or when investable cash is piling up rapidly.
- Direction changes near zero can mark early liquidity-regime turns and deserve trend confirmation.
The M1-M2 gap as a flow gauge
The spread between M1 and M2 growth shows where money is resting. M1 outpacing M2 means transaction-ready balances are expanding, while the reverse points to money being termed out into savings products. This gap tends to track equity turnover and the intensity of speculative rotation in Korean stocks.
- When M1 growth crosses above Korea M2 YoY, check for expanding sideline cash and potential equity inflows.
- M1 deceleration paired with faster Korea Bank Deposits YoY confirms a rotation into time deposits.
- Watch whether M1 rebounds with a lag after short rates such as the Korea CP 91D Rate turn lower.
Avoiding misreads
Falling M1 usually means money changed form within M2, not that liquidity vanished. The series is also volatile, so one or two months rarely define a regime.
- On sharp M1 drops, verify whether time and savings deposit balances rose in tandem before concluding anything.
- Judge holiday-affected months, when cash in circulation jumps, by trend rather than the raw print.
- Do not treat an M1 rebound as a direct buy signal; cross-check turnover and margin-credit flows first.