South Korea posted a budget surplus in fiscal 2015 for the first time in four years as its tax revenue edged up due to increased real estate transactions, the finance ministry said Friday.

The gross revenue that the government brought in last year came to 328.1 trillion won ($273.8 billion), while its expenditure totaled 319.4 trillion won, according to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance after closing its books for the fiscal year 2015.

As a result, its surplus reached 8.7 trillion won last year, a turnaround from a deficit for three consecutive years from 2012.

Tax revenue amounted to 217.9 trillion won, exceeding the original target by 2.2 trillion won, while the government collected 110.2 trillion won in non-tax income, some 2 trillion won shy of the goal.

"The improvement is led by a recovery in the local property market and tax code revision," said the ministry in a release.

Last year, the government eased regulations on the real estate market in a way to boost domestic demand and prop up the economy.

As 6.8 million property transactions were made in 2015, which represents an 18-percent rise from the previous year's 5.9 million, real estate transfer tax income rose 47.3 percent, or 3.8 trillion won, on-year to 11.9 trillion won.

The government also collected 2.4 trillion won more in corporate taxes as it removed various tax breaks through revised tax codes despite lackluster business performance. (Yonhap)