South Korea's overseas construction orders rose to the highest level in five years in 2020 on major projects won in the Middle East and South America.

The value of overseas construction deals stood at $35.1 billion last year, up 57.3 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement.

A total of 359 Korean companies won 567 orders from 98 nations last year, it said.

Local builders’ overseas deals rose for three years from $28.2 billion in 2016 to $32.1 billion in 2018 but fell to $22.3 billion in 2019.

The Middle East accounted for 37.9 percent of orders, followed by Asia with 33 percent and Latin America with 19.6 percent. (Yonhap)