South Korea was the world's largest spender on chip equipment in the first quarter of the year, a report showed, amid a global semiconductor shortage.

South Korea, home to major memory chip producers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, spent $7.31 billion in chipmaking equipment in the January-March period, up 118 percent from a year ago, according to quarterly billings data from SEMI, a global industry association representing companies in the electronics design and manufacturing supply chain.

Compared with the fourth quarter of 2020, its spending jumped 82 percent. South Korea was the No. 3 chip equipment investor in the last three months of 2020.

The country represented 31 percent of global semiconductor equipment billings in the first quarter. (Yonhap)