SEJONG, Nov. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Sales at South Korea’s transportation sector gained ground for two years in a row last year on an increase in land and air services, government data showed Wednesday.
The combined sales of local transportation firms totaled 141.2 trillion won (US$129.4 billion) in 2016, up slightly from 140.9 trillion won tallied a year ago, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
The 2016 figure marked the second consecutive growth since 2015 when it posted a 0.5 percent on-year gain for the first time in three years.
Overland transportation companies saw their sales rise4.6 percent to 62.3 trillion won and storage and other transport-related services posted 26 trillion won in sales, up 15.8 percent from a year earlier. Sales of airborne transport climbed 3.6 percent on-year to 21.8 trillion won last year.
But sales of sea-based transportation slumped 17.8 percent on-year to 31.2 trillion won.
Their operating costs amounted to 126.4 trillion won, up 0.4 percent from a year earlier, the latest data showed.
The number of companies in the sector edged up 1 percent on-year to 371,891 in 2016, with the number of people on their payroll standing at 1.12 million, up 1.4 percent on-year.
(Yonhap)