The number of foreigners residing in Seoul has risen since the beginning of this year due mainly to the increased number of marriage immigrants and the city’s overall convenient circumstances, the government data showed Friday.
According to the statistics by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, 285,618 foreign nationals were living in the South Korean capital at the end of the third quarter, up 4.1 and 1.36 percent from the end of the first and second quarters, respectively.
Compared to the end of last year, the number of foreigners in the third quarter in Seoul jumped 7.95 percent, taking up 2.71 percent of the city’s total population, the statistics showed.
Among the foreign nationals staying in Seoul, Korean-Chinese took up the largest proportion with 65 percent, followed by pure Chinese with 11 percent and U.S. citizens with 3.53 percent, according to the data.
“The trend is due mainly to the increased number of marriage immigrants, along with Seoul’s overall development in both physical and cultural terms,” said Hwang Seon-ah, the Seoul city official in charge of supporting foreign residents.
“For their convenience, we came up with measures not only for building facilities for them but also for helping them better adapt to our society by devising welfare programs and awareness-raising campaigns,” she added.
Despite the continued inflow of foreigners into Seoul, the total number of the city’s population has fallen from the beginning of this year. Some 10,557,498 people were registered in the city at the end of the third quarter, falling 0.23 and 0.12 percent from the end of the first and second quarters of this year, respectively, according to the statistics.
The number of Seoul citizens as of end-September decreased 0.17 percent from the end of last year, it showed.
The decrease in the city’s overall population is in line with the country’s stubbornly low birthrate, together with the development of Seoul’s neighboring areas that have relatively cheaper living expenses, including housing prices, according to the city.
