The auto industry’s exports posted a record high last year, up 13.7 percent from the year before as shipments to Europe and emerging markets proved surprisingly buoyant, government data showed Tuesday.

The industry shipped a total of 3,151,930 vehicles last year, surpassing three million for the first time and posting a considerable jump from 2,772,107 in 2011, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said.

“Demand from the U.S. and Europe continued to recover and growth in emerging markets was solid in 2011. The average unit cost of Korean cars went up as the industry exported more mid-sized vehicles,” the ministry said in its statement. The combined export figure for the five carmakers, including those from their overseas plants, also hit a record high of 6,293,707 vehicles, up 16.9 percent from 2010.

The domestic car market grew a mere 1.5 percent in 2010, selling 1,579,589 units.

“The domestic market maintained positive growth of about 5 percent in the first three quarters, which was a similar level of growth as in previous years, but recorded negative growth in the fourth quarter due to a spread of uncertainty caused by rising consumer prices,” the ministry said.

Shipments to Europe increased 44 percent and sales to Asian emerging markets gained 34.5 percent from the year before.

By Cynthia J. Kim (cynthiak@heraldcorp.com)