Sales of South Korea’s transportation industry rose nearly 20 percent in 2022 driven by a rising demand for travel after the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed.

Sales came to 232.5 trillion won ($177.7 billion) last year, up 19.8 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

The growth came as sales of the air transport sector surged 57.9 percent on-year to 23.4 trillion won, with more people taking trips as the COVID-19 situation stabilized.

Sales of the water transport segment advanced 36.2 percent to 63.4 trillion won, and those of the land transport sector also gained 7.5 percent on-year to 81.9 trillion won last year.

The storage and delivery service sector enjoyed a 13 percent sales jump in 2022. (Yonhap)