South Korea's exports of passenger cars fell for the first time in over two years in the third quarter of 2024 on weak demand for eco-friendly cars, particularly in Europe, data showed on Thursday.

South Korean carmakers shipped US USD 13.96 billion worth of passenger cars during the July-September period, down 4.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the Korea Customs Service.

It marked the first on-year fall since the first quarter of 2022, when car exports inched down 0.6 % , reports Yonhap news agency.

In terms of volume, exports of South Korean vehicles fell 3 percent on-year to 590,000 units.

Imports rose 12.6 % to USD 3.04 billion in the third quarter, the first on-year increase since the fourth quarter of 2023, data showed.

The decline in exports came as overseas sales of eco-friendly cars shed 1.27 % on-year to USD 5.42 billion in the third quarter.

In detail, demand for electric cars sank 44.4 % to USD 2 billion, while sales of hybrid vehicles reached a record high of USD 3.01 billion.

By destination, car exports to the United States rose 1.2 % in terms of value in the July-September period, and those to Canada and Saudi Arabia advanced 30.2 % and 5.2 % , respectively.

But demand from Australia fell 7.4 % and that from Britain and France tumbled 8.3 % and 27.5 % , respectively.

The average price of cars shipped in the third quarter slid 1.7 % on-year to USD 23,562. That of imports sank 10.7 % on-year to USD 40,711, the data showed.

Also, new automobile sales during the first nine months of the year fell over 8 % from a year earlier amid high borrowing costs and a slowdown in global electric vehicle demand, industry data showed.