Seoul, June 18 (IANS) South Korea’s top 100 companies contributed more than 1,600 trillion won ($1.16 trillion) to the national economy in 2024, with Samsung Electronics topping the list for the second consecutive year, a market tracker said on Wednesday.

Their combined economic contribution reached 1,615.2 trillion won, up 3.9 percent from 1,554.9 trillion won the previous year, according to CEO Score. Samsung Electronics’ contribution rose 7 percent on-year to 157.5 trillion won.

The 100 companies are among the nation’s 500 largest firms by revenue, excluding public enterprises and financial institutions, such as banks, insurers and securities firms, reports Yonhap news agency.

Total sales by the 100 firms rose 6.6 percent on-year to 2,122.4 trillion won, contributing to the overall increase in their economic contribution to Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

Hyundai Motor Co. ranked second with a contribution of 115.2 trillion won, up 3.4 percent from a year earlier. Its affiliate Kia Corp. followed with 86.6 trillion won, a 17.2 percent on-year increase.

Rounding out the top 10 contributors were LG Electronics Inc., Hyundai Mobis Co., GS Caltex Corp., SK Energy Co., POSCO, Samsung C&T Corp. and LG Chem Ltd.

Kia posted the largest on-year increase in economic contribution, mainly due to higher payments to suppliers. In contrast, LG Energy Solution Ltd. recorded the steepest drop, falling 28.3 percent on-year to 19.2 trillion won.

Meanwhile, South Korean stocks traded higher late Wednesday morning, driven by the robust performance of market heavyweight Samsung Electronics and IT shares.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 20.07 points, or 0.68 percent, to 2,970.37 as of 11:20 a.m.

Overnight, Wall Street lost ground on news U.S. President Donald Trump called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” and warned people in Tehran to evacuate immediately.

Iran has been engaging in a military conflict with Israel after the latter conducted preemptive airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities earlier this week.

In Seoul, tech behemoth Samsung Electronics climbed 1.98 percent, while its chipmaking rival SK hynix shed 0.2 percent.

—IANS

na/