Risk and sentiment
Korea M2 YoY
Year-over-year growth in Korea's M2 money supply.
At a glance
Korea M2 YoY: latest value and prior change
As of 2026-05-31, Korea M2 YoY is 5.78 %. It is 0.13 pp higher than 5.65 % on 2026-04-30.
Across 260 available observations from 2004-10-31 to 2026-05-31, the latest value is at the tie-adjusted 32nd 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 M2 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
Reading Korea's M2 growth as the broad liquidity tide
Korea M2 YoY tracks the year-over-year change in broad money, compiled monthly by the Bank of Korea's ECOS database. M2 covers cash and demand deposits plus time and savings deposits under two years, marketable instruments such as CDs and repos, and performance-based products, making it the closest single measure of the money households and firms can actually deploy. It is published with roughly a six-week lag, which should be factored into any read.
What the aggregate covers
M2 bundles transactional money together with short-term savings that can be converted to cash by giving up only a small yield. Because of that scope, its growth rate reflects both bank credit creation and the pool of money waiting on the sidelines of asset markets. Unlike narrow money M1, a shift into time deposits does not shrink M2 itself.
- Mid single-digit growth sits near Korea's long-run average and reads as a steady liquidity backdrop.
- Growth approaching double digits flags an easy credit environment that can spill into asset prices.
- A slowdown below roughly 3% raises the possibility that credit creation itself is contracting.
Transmission into equities and property
Accelerating M2 often forms the backdrop for liquidity-driven rallies in Korean assets. However, whether the extra money is parked in time deposits or held in checkable form changes how quickly it reaches KOSPI turnover or property transactions. Composition matters as much as the headline rate.
- M2 acceleration alongside a rebound in Korea M1 YoY suggests money is moving into deployable, transaction-ready form.
- If Korea Bank Deposits YoY shows time deposits driving the increase, rotation into risk assets may stay slow.
- Pair it with Korea Monetary Base YoY and Korea Bank Loans YoY to tell policy-driven liquidity from credit-driven liquidity.
Common misreads
High M2 growth does not mechanically lift stock prices, and since it is a nominal series, subtracting inflation often changes the picture. Base effects and statistical revisions can distort a single month, so avoid over-weighting one print.
- Compute a real liquidity rate by subtracting CPI inflation from M2 growth before drawing conclusions.
- Check three-month trends to filter out base effects from unusually strong or weak year-ago months.
- Treat M2 expansions driven by one-off policy events, such as loan-rule changes, as less durable.