South Korea's construction balance surplus fell 22.8 percent in the first six months of this year from a year earlier, central bank data showed Saturday.

The country's construction balance surplus reached $3.14 billion in the January-June period, compared with a surplus of $4.07 billion a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.

The half-year figure is the lowest since the second half of 2006, when the construction balance surplus came to $3.02 billion.

South Korea's construction balance surplus has been on the decline in recent years due to a fall in oil prices. The construction balance surplus hit a record high of $16.34 billion in 2012 before falling to $8.68 billion in 2016.

Oil prices, once hovering at more than $100 a barrel, dropped sharply in 2014, a development that led to a reduction of construction orders by oil-rich Middle East countries.

For decades, Middle East countries have been the largest market for South Korean builders.

South Korean builders, however, won overseas orders worth $16.3 billion in the first half of this year, up 7.2 percent from a year earlier. (Yonhap)