South Korea's overseas direct investment surged more than 17 percent on-year in the first nine months of 2015 as more money was poured into financial and insurance operations, government data showed Tuesday.

The country's overseas direct investment came to $27.05 billion in the January-September period, up 17.1 percent from the $23.11 billion posted for the same period last year, according to the data by the finance ministry.

"Investment in China was down due to a slowdown in the world's No. 2 economy, but there were solid gains to funds going to the United States and the financial sectors that more than offsets the shortfalls," the ministry said.

Investment made into financial and insurance businesses soared 86.9 percent vis-a-vis the year before, with investments in manufacturing edging up 1.4 percent. Investments in the mining and distribution sectors rose 7.3 percent and 45 percent, respectively.

Money poured into real estate and property rental services, however, dropped 28.9 percent on-year.

The data also showed 39.8 percent of all investment went to Asian countries, followed by 29.2 percent for North America and 15.1 percent for Latin America.

Investment to these three regions as well as those to the Middle East grew compared to the previous year, while numbers for Europe, Oceania and African contracted.

By country, South Korea's direct investment in the United States jumped 16.9 percent to $7.32 billion, with Hong Kong and Vietnam attracting more South Korean investment. On the other hand, money going to China fell 10.5 percent on-year.

While the Chinese economy will likely grow at a slower pace and there are increasing downside risks associated with the U.S. Federal Reserve marking up its interest rates, market watchers are expecting a steady rise in global FDI, the ministry said.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development predicted cross-border investment could reach $1.37 trillion this year, up 11.4 percent on-year from $1.23 trillion tallied in 2014. (Yonhap)