The combined amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges made to Asia's No. 4 economy shot up 71.5 percent on-year in the first half of 2021, data showed Wednesday, amid growing hopes of a post-pandemic economic recovery.

Foreigners pledged to make a combined investment of $13 billion over the January-June period, compared with $76.6 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The investment that arrived here rose 57.3 percent over the period to $7.84 billion.

The ministry attributed the sharp growth to the looming hope over the post-pandemic economic recovery around the globe.

By segment, the service sector saw its FDI pledges nearly double to $10.3 billion in the first half. On the other hand, those from the manufacturing sector dipped 11.7 percent to $2 billion.

South Korea's launch of state-backed projects also led to higher investment from overseas, the ministry added.

South Korea has been promoting the Digital and Green New Deal projects, which intend to foster the nation's future growth by promoting digital innovation, green industries and balanced regional development.

The ministry said FDI pledges related to such projects amounted to $3.3 billion, which doubled from the previous year. Those related to the green policies came to $610 million.

By country, FDI pledges from the United States moved up 20.3 percent over the period to hit $2.1 billion, led mostly by the service sector.

Investment from the European Union and Britain came to $6.2 billion in the first half, growing nearly fivefold on-year.

From Japan, South Korea won investment pledges of $460 million, edging up 1.4 percent from the previous year.

The combined FDI pledges from China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia rose 1.7 percent to $2.8 billion, the data also showed.

South Korea is expected to maintain solid growth in terms of securing foreign investment for the remaining 2021 despite the rising uncertainties surrounding the delta variant of COVID-19, although it may take some time to return to the pre-pandemic level, the ministry added.

The country reported 1,212 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, approaching the record of 1,240 tallied in late December. (Yonhap)