South Korean car exports rose 50 percent year-on-year in February, reaching a new record on the back of strong demand for environmentally friendly cars. Data released by the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed today that the value of car exports amounted to $5.6 billion last month, an increase of 47.1 percent over the same period last year. And the Korean News Agency (Yonhap) stated that this figure is the highest monthly level, exceeding the previous record of $5.42 billion in December last year. Exports in terms of volume increased by 34.8 percent year-on-year to 223 thousand units.

The strong demand for environmentally friendly cars led to an increase in the country’s exports of cars in general. The value of exports of environmentally friendly cars increased by 83.4 percent year-on-year in February to the highest monthly figure at $2.02 billion. The volume of its exports also increased by 61.6 percent. cent year-on-year to 62,861 units last month, its largest volume ever. Environmentally friendly cars accounted for 36.1 percent of the country’s total auto exports by value last month, according to the ministry.