South Korea's domestic sales of personal computers inched up in 2016 from a year earlier, marking the first such growth in five years, industry data showed Monday.

According to the data compiled by market researcher IDC Korea, South Korea's sales of PCs came to 4.62 million units last year, up 3.2 percent from a year earlier. Of that amount, slim-sized laptops accounted for 1.5 million units.

"Local sales of ultra-slim laptops came to 1.5 million units, more than 40 percent up from a year earlier," IDC Korea said. The research firm categorized ultra-slim laptops as those less than 21 millimeters thick.

IDC Korea said ultra-slim laptops accounted for 62.3 percent of the local PC market in 2016, which is far above the global average of 31.6 percent.

The South Korean PC market had contracted since 2011 mainly as consumers shunned purchases amid economic woes and growing use of mobile devices. (Yonhap)