Land owned by foreigners in South Korea increased by one percent last year.

According to the Land Ministry on Friday, foreigners owned 241 million square meters of land as of the end of 2018, which is about zero-point-two percent of the country's overall territory.

The total land value, meanwhile, dropped to 29-point-92 trillion won, down zero-point-seven percent from the previous year.

Foreign land ownership, mainly consisting of Chinese nationals purchasing land on Jeju Island, sharply expanded between 2014 and 2015, before declining in 2016.

U.S. nationals topped the list in terms of ownership, holding 52 percent of all land owned by foreigners, followed by the Chinese, Japanese and Europeans.