The number of vehicle registrations in South Korea exceeded 24 million in the first half, helped by strong demand for environmentally friendly models, the Transport Ministry said.

Accumulated auto registrations came to 24.02 million at the end of June, up 1.4 percent from 23.68 million at the end of December, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement.

The first-half registrations showed that 1 in every 2.16 South Koreans owns a car, it said.

Robust domestic sales of eco-friendly and recreational models helped offset local carmakers’ lackluster overseas sales amid the coronavirus pandemic, he said. (Yonhap)