The interim or quarterly dividend payouts by South Korea's listed firms surged this year, thanks to Samsung Electronics Co., which took steps to win back investors, data showed Tuesday.

A total of 54 listed firms paid a combined 9.1 trillion won ($8.19 billion) in interim or quarterly dividends to shareholders this year, compared with 4.6 trillion won last year, according to the data by the Financial Supervisory Service. 

Samsung Electronics delivered a total of 7.2 trillion won in payments to shareholders this year, up 4.3 trillion won from last year.

Excluding Samsung Electronics, the dividend payouts rose by 136.8 billion won this year, the latest findings showed.

The figures don't include year-end dividend payouts by listed firms.

South Korea's dividend payout ratio is among the lowest in the world and local firms have been urged to adopt shareholder-friendly measures to attract more investors amid the government's pressure to raise dividend payouts.

Companies here have been stingy in paying dividends, a key reason why South Korean stocks are generally undervalued. (Yonhap)