The number of expatriates residing in South Korea as of last year reached 1,797,618, marking 3.57 percent of the total population, statistics from the Justice Ministry showed this week.

It marked a sharp increase from 2005, when a total of 747,000 foreigners were living here, 1.55 percent of the population then.

A total of 14.3 million foreign nationals entered the country, more than double the 6 million recorded 9 years ago.

By nationality, the largest group who entered Korea were Chinese at 44 percent. In 2005, it was the Japanese who took up the largest portion at 40.8 percent.

The number of illegal immigrants also increased to 208,788 last year from 180,792 in 2005. But the ratio of illegal immigrants out of the total foreign nationals residing in the country dropped significantly from 24.2 percent to 11.6 percent.

Meanwhile, over 60 million people came in and out of the country last year, the statistics said.

Source: Justice Ministry