By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter

South Korea ranks 40th in the world in terms of automobile ownership, a bit behind other countries with similar income levels, according to a report released by an international organization Friday.

According to the report World Road Statistics 2007 report by the International Road Federation (IRF), the country took 40th place out of 119 countries in 2005 with 319 cars for every 1,000 people.

Founded in 1948, the IRF is a non-profit organization that encourages better road and transportation systems throughout the world. It publishes the World Road Statistics, the only global compilation of road and vehicle statistics, every year.

South Korea whose total population reached about 48.29 million in 2005, had some 15.39 million vehicles in that year, a relatively low ownership rate compared with other OECD countries with similar income levels.

Portugal and Greece, for example, had 507 and 497 motor vehicles per 1,000 people, respectively. The IRF report expects the South Korean rate will also rise up to 500 cars per 1,000 people in coming years.

It predicted that the total number of cars in South Korea could double to exceed 30 million units if the country's economy grows to the level of advanced countries such as the United State and France.

In the meantime, Cyprus was the country with the highest ownership rate with 742 cars per 1,000 people and Guinea Bissau in Africa was the country with the lowest with only one car for every 1,000 people.

The United States placed 5th with 675 cars per 1,000. Further down the list came France (10th) with 596 cars, Japan (11th) with 586, Germany (12th) with 585 and England (21st) with 510.

The so-called BRICs countries stood at mid- and low-ranks. Russia ranked 52nd with 174 cars per 1,000 people, followed by Brazil (53rd) with 170, China (96th) with 24 and India (103rd) with 12.

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr