South Korea's overseas direct investment fell five-point-eight percent on-year in the third quarter, the first such drop since the first quarter of last year.

The Finance Ministry said on Friday investments made by South Korean companies totaled 12-point-eight billion dollars in the July-September period, compared with 13-point-five billion a year earlier.

Overseas direct investment was down, reflecting sluggish investment by the manufacturing sector, including the semiconductor and display industries. It had expanded on-year by up to 30 percent since the second quarter of last year.

A Finance Ministry official said while there were a number of large-scale investments exceeding one billion dollars in value during the third quarter last year, there was only one investment project surpassing 300 million dollars this year.

The U.S. accounted for the largest share of South Korea's overseas investments, with two-point-85 billion dollars in the third quarter, down 26-point-five percent from a year earlier.

Direct investment in China tumbled 31-point-eight percent to one-point-01 billion dollars, while investment in France more than tripled to one-point-09 billion dollars on a rise in property investment.