Foreign direct investment pledges to South Korea hit an all-time high last year, surpassing $30 billion for the first time, data showed Tuesday.

Foreigners pledged to invest $30.45 billion here last year, up 3.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The previous record high was $29.51 billion in 2021.

The amount of investment that actually arrived in South Korea, however, fell 3.1 percent on-year to $18.03 billion.

The number of FDI pledges grew 12.1 percent to 3,463, and the number of investments that actually arrived rose 12.4 percent to 2,325, the data showed.

By segment, the manufacturing sector saw FDI pledges more than double to $12.48 billion, an all-time high, particularly in the textile and clothing, chemical engineering, metal and electronics fields.

But FDI pledges made to the service sector decreased 29.6 percent to $16.59 billion.

The service sector accounted for 54.5 percent of the fresh investment pledges, with the remainder in the manufacturing field, according to the data.

By country, investment from the United States soared 65.2 percent to $8.69 billion. The U.S. accounted for 28.5 percent, or the largest share, of the total investment pledges made to South Korea last year.

But investment from the European Union retreated 36.9 percent to $8.07 billion, and the amount from Chinese-speaking nations went down 31.6 percent to $5.16 billion, the ministry said.

By type, greenfield investments jumped 23.4 percent on-year to reach a record high of $22.32 billion, while investments in the form of mergers and acquisitions went down 28.8 percent on-year to $8.14 billion, the data showed.

Greenfield investments refer to when a parent company begins a new venture or establishes new facilities.

"The FDI growth is expected to have positive impacts on employment and corporate investment in other related fields," a ministry official said. "The government will continue its deregulation drive and continue to boost incentives for foreign investors." (Yonhap)