The number of environmentally friendly cars sold in Korea increased 79.6 percent on-year in 2012 to 36,544 units, the Ministry of Environment said on Wednesday.

They accounted for 3.1 percent of the 1.17 million newly-registered vehicles last year, according to the ministry’s data.

Most of them were hybrids (35,830 units), while only 714 electric cars were sold.

Japan and the U.S., which lead the world green car market, sold 450,000 and 280,000 environment-friendly cars, respectively.

The number of eco-friendly cars in Korea has been on a constant rise, from 50 in 2004, to 8,115 in 2010 and 20,342 in 2011.

However, a lack of infrastructure including charging stations along with high prices are still said to be major roadblocks for expansion.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)