SEJONG (Yonhap News) ― Total assets owned by the government grew more than 5 percent on-year in 2011 due to land, buildings and equipment purchases, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.

According to the ministry, the government held about 8,319 trillion won ($7.75 trillion) worth of assets at the end of 2011, up 5.6 percent or 439 trillion won from a year earlier.

It is 2.3 times larger than in 2001 when the government held about 3,576 trillion won, the ministry said.

The asset increase is due to purchases of more land and tangible fixed assets such as buildings and machinery equipment.

The two types of assets accounted for 88.8 percent of the total, the ministry said.

Government land was estimated at 3,744 trillion won in 2011, up 176 trillion won from a year earlier. About 65 percent of the land was concentrated in Seoul and its surrounding areas, the ministry said.

Tangible fixed assets held by the government came to 3,646 trillion won last year, up 183 trillion won from a year earlier, according to the ministry.