Seoul: Sales of South Korea's transport industry rose to above 250 trillion won (US$171.1 billion) last year mainly on an increase in cargo shipping rates, data showed Thursday. Sales of the industry, including both logistics and travel transport, tentatively came to 254.7 trillion won in 2024, up 12.4 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

According to Yonhap News Agency, sales of the maritime transport segment jumped 17.7 percent on-year to 52 trillion won, the agency said. The air transport sector's sales advanced 13.5 percent to 33 trillion won, and the figure for the land-based transport sector moved up 10 percent to 97.5 trillion won. The storage and delivery sector enjoyed an 11.5 percent increase on-year to 72.2 trillion won.

South Korea has 61,000 registered transportation companies as of end-2024, down 0.4 percent. Their combined workforce increased 11.4 percent on-year to 1.54 million, according to the data.