Seoul, Jul 15 (IANS): South Korea's automotive export hit the highest in eight years in the first half of 2022 owing to strong demand for eco-friendly vehicles.

Automotive shipment rose 3.2 per cent over the year to 24.35 billion US dollars for the first six months of this year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

It was the highest in eight years since the first half of 2014 amid growing demand for eco-friendly cars, which took up 30 percent of the total automotive shipment. It was up 8.3 percentage points from a year earlier, Xinhua news agency reported.

Car export to Asia and Latin America advanced in double figures, but shipments to the European Union declined 9.3 percent in the first half.

The domestic sale of eco-friendly cars, including electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles, jumped 34.3 percent from a year earlier to reach a record high of 210,474 units in the first half.

It accounted for 26.1 per cent of the total automotive sale in the local market.

The number of vehicles sold here was 807,605 in the first half, down 11.3 per cent from a year earlier.

The number of cars manufactured in the domestic factories fell 2.0 per cent over the year to 1,779,044 in the January-June period amid the continued supply disruptions of semiconductors used to make vehicles.