South Korea's overseas direct investment more than doubled on-year in the first quarter of this year amid an economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the finance ministry said Friday.

The value of investments made overseas by South Korean companies reached $25.4 billion in the January-March period, up from $11.34 billion a year earlier, according to the data by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The net amount went up nearly threefold to $21.5 billion in the first quarter from the previous year's $7.11 billion, the data showed.

The ministry attributed the growth to a low base effect and eased uncertainties as the spread of the coronavirus had slowed down across the globe.

In the first quarter of last year, the value of overseas direct investment fell 23 percent on-year. But the figure has risen at a faster clip from a 29.8 percent increase in the second quarter to 60.8 percent in the third quarter and to 64.7 percent in the October-December period.

By sector, investment in the manufacturing sector surged 238.4 percent on-year to $9.55 billion, and local firms' investment in the financial and insurance sectors jumped 42.1 percent to $7.76 billion. That in the real estate field soared 150.2 percent to $2.48 billion.

By country, South Korea's direct investment in the United States more than doubled to $8.73 billion, and that in China jumped nearly fivefold to $4.26 billion, the data showed. (Yonhap)