Seoul reports largest population drop in 5 years: Data

In wake of soaring housing prices, Seoul, the capital city of South Korea has suffered its largest population decline in five years, according to a data.

Yonhap News Agency reported that the boost in housing prices likely to be the reason for driving people out of the city.

As per figures compiled by the Ministry of Interior and Safety and provided to People Power Party representative Tae Young-ho, Seoul had a population of just over 9.56 million as of June. Compared to a year ago, that represented a drop of 154,856, or 1.59 per cent. It is the largest annual drop in five years, reported the news agency on Sunday.

However, the census data do not count foreign residents.

While a population drop is hardly new in Seoul, the representative pointed to skyrocketing housing costs as the main reason for the precipitous fall.

The northern ward of Nowon has seen the biggest drop among 25 districts, going from 528,887 to 515,997.

However, South Korea has been categorised as a developed economy by a United Nations agency which deals with trade and development issues.

The decision was made unanimously during the 68th board meeting of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held at the headquarters in Geneva.

It is the first time that the agency has upgraded a member nation from the developing economy group to the developed since its establishment in 1964.

The UNCTAD classifies the member countries into four groups based on the UN Regional Groups, and South Korea used to be under List A consisting of Asian and African countries, but the change has moved South Korea under List B consisting of Western European and Others Group.

With the decision, the List B group has now 32 member countries, including Germany, France and Japan.

( With inputs from ANI )