SEOUL, June 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Seoul’s population has fallen below 9.5 million, just six years after it sunk below 10 million, data showed Monday.
The Ministry of Interior and Safety said that the population of the capital city stood at 9,496,887 as of late May,
The city’s population was above 10.3 million as recently as late 2010. Since then, however, the city has seen its population dwindle every year, with more than 800,000 people leaving the city.
In contrast, the population of Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, is surging. As of late May, there were 13,581,496 people living in the province, exceeding Seoul’s population by 4,085,000.
In late 2010, the population of Gyeonggi was 1.47 million higher than in Seoul. Now, the gap has widened significantly.
“Coupled with the natural decline in population and plans for new residential communities in the suburbs, Seoul’s population decline is expected to accelerate,” said Kim Sang-il, a senior official at the Seoul Institute.
Image Credit: Yonhap / photonews@koreabizwire.com
