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Korea falls behind in global autonomous taxi market, report finds

Published: 03 Sep. 2025, 16:18 Updated: 03 Sep. 2025, 18:12

A Uber Korea affiliated taxi [JOONGANG ILBO]

Korea is falling behind in the global autonomous taxi market as regulators continue to shield the traditional taxi industry rather than foster innovation, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Tuesday.

In a new report, the central bank projected the global autonomous taxi market will surge from $3 billion in 2024 to $190 billion by 2034, growing at an average annual rate of 51.4 percent.

“U.S. and Chinese tech firms are pouring over 14 trillion won ($10 billion) each into training autonomous driving artificial intelligence systems, while Korea has yet to even begin full-scale testing,” the central bank noted.

As of 2022, Korea’s autonomous driving technology was at 89.4 percent of the U.S. level and lagging behind China, which was at 95.4 percent.

“At the time, we believed the technology gap was about one year, but in the field today, people are saying it's closer to three,” said Noh Jin-young, head of the BOK’s Policy and Institutional Research Team.

Taxis waiting for customers are parked at a street in Andong, North Gyeongsang on March 27. [YONHAP]

Korea effectively banned ride-hailing services like Uber following the “Tada debate” in 2019 and 2020, where car-sharing service platforms came into conflict with taxi companies over alleged double standards on regulations and market share. Since then, policy has leaned more toward protecting the traditional taxi industry than promoting new mobility innovation, the report stated.

If 7,000 autonomous taxis were deployed in Seoul, the BOK estimated that consumer welfare could improve by 160 billion won annually.

Lim Choon-sung, an official of the BOK, noted that 69 percent of Seoul's taxis are privately owned and driven by aging drivers who often avoid working during late-night hours when demand peaks.

“Because autonomous taxis don’t require drivers, they can be deployed more flexibly during peak and late-night hours and cater to customer preferences such as contactless service,” Lim said.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK YU-MI [[email protected]]