SEOUL: The accumulated number of registered vehicles in the Republic of Korea rose 1.7 percent in 2023 from a year earlier on strong demand for environmentally friendly models, Yonhap News Agency quoted government data as saying on Friday.

Car registrations came to 25.95 million units as of end-December, up from 25.5 million units a year ago, helped by increased sales of all-electric, hydrogen-powered and gasoline hybrid models, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement.

Those eco-friendly vehicles accounted for more than 8 percent of the country’s overall vehicle registrations as of December, it said.

In 2023, the number of newly registered vehicles climbed 4.1 percent to 1.76 million units from the previous year’s 1.69 million units.

“The number of combustion-engine vehicles fell for the first time last year on a year-on-year basis. Registrations of eco-friendly cars are on the rise,” a ministry official said in the statement.

Registrations of gasoline, diesel and liquefied
petroleum gas-powered vehicles fell 0.4 percent, or 85,191 units, on-year to 23.65 million in 2023, while those of eco-friendly models jumped 33 percent, or 530,305 units, to 21.2 million, the ministry said.

Source: Emirates News Agency