SEOUL, April 26 (Xinhua) -- South Korea’s passenger car export grew in the first quarter on solid demand from North America and Russia, customs office data showed Friday.

Outbound shipment of passenger cars reached 9.3 billion U.S. dollars in the January-March quarter, up 2.7 percent from a year earlier, according to Korea Customs Service.

Passenger car import tumbled 20.1 percent over the year to 2.4 billion dollars in the quarter.

The passenger car export continued to gain for the second consecutive quarter on robust demand from the United States and Russia, of which export posted a double-digit expansion.

Export to Germany and Britain increased by a double digit, with the figure to Vietnam surging 44.9 percent.

Compact car shipment advanced 10.8 percent over the year to 630 million dollars in the first quarter, continuing to rise for the ninth consecutive quarter since the first quarter of 2017.

Export of eco-friendly vehicles jumped 33.8 percent to 1.26 billion dollars in the cited period.

The number of passenger cars exported in the March quarter was 590,000, down 0.1 percent from a year ago. The passenger car import declined 19.3 percent to 65,000 in the quarter.

The average export price of passenger vehicles rose 2.7 percent to 15,653 dollars, but the import price fell 1 percent to 37,070 dollars.