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The number of people who newly contracted human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) last year was 1,005, down by 5.7 percent from 1,066 reported the previous year, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Wednesday.

Among them, 749, or 74.5 percent, were Korean nationals, while 256, or 25.5 percent, were foreign nationals.

HIV carriers were mostly men, who accounted for 89.9 percent. By age, those in their 30s were highest at 35.4 percent, followed by those in their 20s at 28.7 percent and those in their 40s at 15.7 percent.

The KDCA said the ratio of foreign nationals among HIV carriers has increased from 19.5 percent in 2020 to 20.7 percent in 2021 to 22.6 percent in 2022 and to 25.5 percent last year.

HIV attacks the body's immune system and can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). While AIDS is the most advanced stage of HIV, a person with HIV will not necessarily develop AIDS.

A KDCA's epidemiological survey of 566 Korean HIV carriers showed that 564 of them contracted HIV through sexual contact. Among these, 54.3 percent of transmissions were via same-sex sexual contact.

"We will push for various prevention policies, early HIV discovery and treatment of AIDS to achieve the goal of bringing the disease to an end by 2030," KDCA Commissioner Jee Young-mee said.