Seoul, Jun 18 (IANS): The number of chargers for electric vehicles in South Korea has surpassed 2,40,000, data showed on Sunday, amid the growing popularity of eco-friendly cars in the country.

Fast chargers accounted for 10.6 per cent of the 2,40,695 installed electric vehicle charging stations in South Korea, Representative Park Sang-hyunk of the main opposition Democratic Party said, citing data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Ministry of Environment in May.

Considering chargers that are not registered with the authorities, the actual number of available charging stations could be higher than reported.

The number of EV chargers in the country has been showing rapid growth in recent years, soaring from just 330 in 2015. The number surpassed 100,000 in 2021, Yonhap news agency reported.

By region, Gyeonggi province, which surrounds Seoul, had the highest number of 60,873, followed by the capital city with 42,619. The southeastern port city of Busan had 13,370.

Concerning the ratio of chargers per EV, the southern resort island of Jeju had the lowest figure of 0.277. Seoul and Gyeonggi province posted comparable ratios of 0.66 and 0.67, respectively.

The central city of Sejong boasted the highest ratio, with the figure reaching 0.85.

The number of hydrogen fuelling stations, meanwhile, came to just 244 last month, slightly up from 229 tallied in 2022.