The private tuition industry is steadily expanding around Seoul and other metropolitan areas despite the recession.

Kim Seon-dong, a Grand National Party lawmaker on the Education, Science and Technology Committee at the National Assembly on Tuesday said as of the end of June, there were 34,071 after-school crammers and exam preparation institutes across the country, up 4.87 percent from 32,489 a year ago.

Although the margin of increase is slightly lower than the 6.95 percent between 2007 and 2008, the figure shows that the private education sector is still thriving.

Incheon saw the steepest growth in the number of institutes with 10.6 percent, and Gwangju came second with 7.7 percent growth. Daegu and Gyeonggi Province followed with 7.5 percent and 7.3 percent. Seoul itself saw an increase of just 3.25 percent, lower than the national average.