South Korea's overseas direct investment hit a record quarterly high in the first quarter on the increased mergers & acquisitions (M&As) and the expansion of overseas plants, a government report showed Friday.

The overseas direct investment by local residents amounted to 14.11 billion US dollars in the January-March quarter, up 44.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

It was the biggest quarterly figure since the relevant data began to be compiled in 1981, marking the fastest growth since the first quarter of 2017.

It was led by manufacturers, of which overseas direct investment more than doubled to 5.79 billion dollars due to the M&As for an increased foreign sale and the expanded investment in overseas factories.

In the finance and insurance sector, the overseas direct investment jumped 48.2 percent over the year to 4.76 billion dollars, while local real estate developers invested 1.61 billion dollars overseas during the quarter, up 36.4 percent from a year ago.

By country, the direct investment in the United States surged 95.2 percent to 3.65 billion dollars in the cited period. The investment in China more than doubled to 1.69 billion dollars for an expanded facility.

Meanwhile, the facility investment at home declined 17.4 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, posting the fastest reduction since the first quarter of 2009 when the global financial crisis negatively affected the economy.

The facility investment continued to fall for four straight quarters since the second quarter of last year.