South Korea's corporate direct financing gained 10.8 percent on year in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic prompted more companies to tap the bond market to raise funds, data showed Wednesday.

Local companies raised a combined 194.4 trillion won ($175.6 billion) by selling stocks and bonds last year, up 18.9 trillion won from 2019, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

Corporate stock sales more than doubled to 10.9 trillion won, with the value of initial public offerings jumping 55 percent to 3.8 trillion won.

In October last year, share sales were large as Big Hit Entertainment, the management agency of K-pop superstar BTS, carried out an IPO.

Local businesses' bond offerings rose 7.9 percent on year to 183.5 trillion won last year.

Last year, the issuance of asset-backed securities surged 39.3 percent on-year to 20.8 trillion won, according to the data. (Yonhap)