Seoul, Dec 1 (NationPress) The count of registered hybrid automobiles is poised to exceed 2 million for the first time in South Korea this year, as indicated by data released on Sunday.

As of October, the total number of registered hybrid vehicles in South Korea reached 1,925,001, based on information provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

If the current monthly rate of 40,000 new registrations continues over the last two months, the total is expected to surpass 2 million before the year concludes, according to the report from the Yonhap news agency.

Since their introduction in 2008, the registration of hybrid vehicles has shown consistent growth, crossing the 500,000 milestone in 2019, 1 million in 2022, and 1.5 million last year, as reported by the ministry.

Driven by this growth, the total proportion of eco-friendly vehicles—including electric, hydrogen, and hybrid cars—reached 10 percent of all vehicle registrations in October, marking the first instance of double-digit figures.

As of October, there were 661,141 registered electric vehicles and 37,443 registered hydrogen vehicles.

The share of eco-friendly vehicles was only 0.9 percent in 2015, but it has rapidly escalated to 5 percent by 2022.

Meanwhile, South Korea's automobile exports saw a yearly increase of 5.5 percent in October, achieving a new record, fueled by the global demand for eco-friendly models, including hybrids.

The overall value of vehicle exports reached $6.2 billion last month, marking the highest figure for any October, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The total number of vehicles shipped amounted to 243,367, which is an 8.1 percent increase from the previous year, as indicated in the report. Shipments of hybrid vehicles alone reached $1.1 billion, soaring 80.3 percent year-on-year to exceed the prior record of $1.07 billion set in August.