Seoul: Dividend payouts by listed firms in South Korea rose by nearly 10 percent last year, as some delivered more dividends as part of their efforts to boost returns to shareholders, data showed Thursday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, data compiled by the Korea Depositary Corp. revealed that approximately 1,200 companies with December book closings paid a total of 32.29 trillion won (US$23.68 billion) in dividends to shareholders last year. This marks a 9.6 percent increase from the previous year.

The breakdown shows that KOSPI-listed firms contributed 30 trillion won to the total dividend payouts, while companies listed on the tech-heavy KOSDAQ market accounted for 2.29 trillion won. The data also highlighted that foreign investors received 9.79 trillion won in dividends, marking a significant increase of 30.3 percent from the previous year. Additionally, payouts to retail investors rose by 28 percent, reaching 9.08 trillion won during the same period.

Among the companies, Kia emerged as the top dividend payer, distributing 2.56 trillion won last year, reinforcing its position as the country's second-largest automaker.