SEJONG -- The number of beef cattle in South Korea surged to a record high in the third quarter of the year on increased beef consumption, government data showed Thursday.

There were 3.39 million beef cattle, including Korean-bread cattle known as "hanwoo," in the country as of Sept. 1, up 3.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by Statistics Korea.

It represents the largest-ever tally since the statistical agency began tracking related data in 1983.

The third-quarter increase was attributed to rising consumption of hanwoo beef, which led to price hikes and prompted farmers to produce more beef cattle.

The data also showed the number of milk cows in the country gaining 1 percent on-year to 408,000 heads in the July-September period.

The number of pigs declined 3 percent on-year to 11.37 million in the third quarter due to a decrease in the number of mother pigs. (Yonhap)