The global merger and acquisition deal space is heating up as the total tally has reached $1 trillion so far this year driven by as many as 180 billion- dollar deals, says global deal tracking firm Dealogic.

Global M&A volume reached $1 trillion mark on April 23 of this year, a month earlier as compared to the similar amount reached in 2010 (May 25).

The $1 trillion landmark was reached on June 11 in 2009 and on April 23 in 2008, Dealogic added.

The reason behind this accelerated deal volume was the 180 billion-dollar deals so far this year as against $124 billion achieved in the same period of 2010.

A sector-wise analysis shows that telecoms was the top targeted industry so far this year with $112.7 billion, followed by finance with $108.5 billion.

Region-wise, US was the top targeted nation with $395.7 billion, followed by China at $52.2 billion.

JPMorgan leads the global M&A advisors list during 2011 (January-April 23) with $245.7 billion, followed by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley with $220.2 billion and $205.3 billion respectively.

Meanwhile, according to global consultancy firm Grant Thornton, there were 143 M&A deals in the first three months of this calender year in India amounting to $17.88 billion, much better than during the same period last year.

In India too, M&A has seen some large transactions, with six deals valued over half a billion each during January-March this year.

The transaction values for the first quarter of this year have been the highest in the last 16 quarters.