South Koreans spent a record high overseas last year as more people opted to go on overseas trips, data from the central bank showed Sunday.

According to the data compiled by the Bank of Korea, South Koreans spent 28.93 trillion won ($25.9 billion) overseas last year, up 8.3 percent, or 2.23 trillion won, from the previous year.

The 2016 tally marks the highest since the central bank began to compile related data in 1970.

South Koreans’ overseas spending has been on a sharp rise, reaching 26.7 trillion won in 2015, 23.1 trillion won in 2014, 22.76 trillion won in 2013 and 21.9 trillion won in 2012, the data showed.