South Korean firms listed on the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index(KOSPI) paid out over 19 trillion won in dividend payments last year, marking the highest ever.

According to the Korea Exchange(KRX) on Monday, the average dividends per share(DPS) in the KOSPI market exceeded the average earnings per government bond for the first time.

Tallies from the KRX showed that 492 firms, or 66-point-eight percent of listed firms on the main bourse, paid cash dividends, totaling around 19-point-14 trillion won, or about 16-point-six billion U.S. dollars.

The figure has risen gradually, from eleven-point-six trillion won in 2011 to about 15 trillion won in 2014.

Over 91 percent of the listed firms gave shareholders dividends for two consecutive years in the last five years.

The average DPS for KOSPI shares was one-point-74 percent, higher than the average earning per one-year government bonds, which was one-point-698 percent. 

This is the first time the DPS among listed firms here has been higher than the average earning per government bond. About 40 percent of listed firms’ DPS exceeded the average earnings of government bonds.