South Koreans in their 20s have been cutting back on buying cars over the past four years as they cope with tough job-searching amid adverse business conditions, industry data showed Tuesday.
  

Last year, a total of 109,671 vehicles were purchased by people in their 20s here, down 1.7 percent from the 111,558 units in 2013, according to the data by the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.
  

The figure has been on a downtrend since 2011 when the number of newly registered cars to owners in the cited age frame dropped 6.2 percent on-year, the KAMA data showed. Overall, the number plummeted 25.9 percent in the four-year period until last year.
  

"The outlook is that consumer sentiment among people in their 20s will be further discouraged down the road due to the rising unemployment rate and household debt," a KAMA official said.
  

The January unemployment rate for young people, between the ages of 15 and 29, stood at 9.2 percent, up from the 9 percent tallied a month earlier, according to Statistics Korea. The latest data for the age group is the highest monthly tally since 2000 when the agency started compiling the related data.
  

In contrast, among those in their 20s and 30s, more have turned to buying foreign-made brands over the past year. According to Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association, the number of imported cars purchased by the young buyers jumped 19.4 percent on-year to 9,304 units in 2014.
  

"With the recent increase in compact car models, the younger generation in their 20s and 30s are emerging as major clients in the imported car market," a KAIDA officials said.
  

Overall car buyers in other age brackets in the country have gone up last year, with those in their 40s and 50s having bought 10.4 percent and 12.2 percent more vehicles, respectively, from the previous year, according to the KAMA data. Newly registered cars for consumers in their 60s also advanced 13.2 percent over the cited period. (Yonhap)