South Korea's overseas direct investment expanded 21.6 percent in the first six months of the year from a year earlier on a sharp rise in purchases of real estate overseas, government data showed Thursday.

The country's overseas direct investment came to $21.75 billion in the January-June period, compared with $17.89 billion tallied in the same period last year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

Investments by financial institutions, including insurers, soared 37 percent on-year to $6.9 billion, with investments by manufacturers gaining 11.5 percent on-year to $4.8 billion.

Real estate businesses made $2.33 billion worth of investments in foreign countries over the six-month period, up 91.2 percent from a year earlier, while money funneled from the wholesale and retail sector also edged up 0.9 percent to $1.4 billion.

Investments by mining companies, however, plunged 49 percent to $1.89 billion in the first half.

Asia was South Korea's biggest investment destination with a total of $6.78 billion, closely followed by North America with $6.45 billion and Latin America with $4.03 billion.

The finance ministry expected the country's overseas investment to decline in the coming months due to a protracted slump in the world economy and spreading protectionism, coupled with rising uncertainties in the face of the U.S. presidential election in November. (Yonhap)