BEIJING - China recorded 26,873 new pneumoconiosis cases in 2014, a 16 percent increase from the previous year, the country's health authority said on Thursday.

A disease of the lungs caused by the inhalation of large amounts of dust or particulate matter, pneumoconiosis took up nearly 90 percent of all occupational disease cases reported last year, according to figures released by the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Chronic occupational poisoning were responsible for 795 cases. Acute occupational poisoning led to 486 cases. Each category included two deaths. The remaining 1,818 cases involved other types of illnesses.

The mining and processing of coal and nonferrous metals were sectors most vulnerable to occupational hazards, responsible for 62.5 percent of all cases last year.