The number of registered vehicles in South Korea rose 0.6 percent in the second quarter to over 25 million, with that of eco-friendly cars exceeding 1.36 million units, government data showed.

Car registrations came to 25.22 million units as of end-June, up from 25.07 million units a quarter earlier despite a global chip shortage, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement.

Global carmakers have been struggling with the lack of semiconductor parts since late 2020, which have affected their vehicle production and sales.

The number of environmentally friendly cars - electric, hydrogen and hybrid vehicles ­ climbed 8.5 percent in the June quarter from a quarter earlier to account for 5.4 percent of total car registrations, the statement said. (Yonhap)