South Korea's air passenger traffic increased to a record high last year.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on Sunday, over 117 million people used international or domestic flights in 2018, up seven-and-a-half percent from a year earlier.

About 86 million people used international flight services to arrive in or depart from South Korea, up eleven-point-seven percent from a year earlier.

Air passengers saw the largest growth on flights to and from China with an increase of 15-point-six percent, and the passengers flying routes to Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia also increased by around 12 percent, respectively.

However, the number of passengers using domestic flights decreased by two-and-a-half percent on-year to 31 million last year, posting a decrease for the first time in five years.