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By Lee Suh-yoon
An average of 179 people were born in Seoul each day in 2017, the first time this figure fell under 200, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government's 2017 statistical yearbook released Wednesday.
This reflects the nation's low birthrate, with Seoul's rate also dropping for the third consecutive year to an average of 0.836 babies per woman.
The yearbook, a compilation of numbers and charts on the city's demographics, land, the economy and social affairs during 2017, shows Seoul's population fell by around 80,000 to 10.1 million. The districts with the largest number of residents were Songpa, followed by Gangseo, and Gangnam.
The continued dip in childbirth is slowly clearing out classrooms, starting with the lower tiers. The number of students enrolled in elementary school in the capital dropped from 665,000 in 2007 to 428,000 in 2017.
The number of residents over the age of 65 also increased by 64,249 in 2017 to reach 13.5 percent of the population, signaling the capital could soon be classified as an "aged society," one where the number of residents over 65 surpasses 14%. One in five from this older age group lived alone.
Every day 118 people died. On average 147 couples tied the knot, while 47 couples divorced.
The number of foreign residents remained about the same, about 267,000, or 2.6 percent of the population in Seoul, compared to the previous year. Over 60 percent of them were from China.
Living expenses have risen. The consumer price index ticked up by 7.6 percent compared to five years ago. The goods with the highest price hikes were cigarettes, eggs, beef, and soft drinks. The prices of oil, gas, and rice, on the other hand, fell by around 10 to 20 percent.
The number of crimes fell slightly. About 880 crimes are reported in the capital every day.
Resource consumption
A decreasing population — about a 300,000 drop in the past five years — has not necessarily led to a decrease in the city's total resource consumption.
The city used up 46.3 million megawatt-hours of electricity in 2017, about the same as previous years. Water usage also remained the same, with an average Seoul resident using 303 liters of water a day.
Consumption of fossil fuel resources remained at similar levels to 2016. The city consumed 128,000 barrels of oil and 12 million square meters of liquefied natural gas every day.
The city throws out about 9,608 tons of household trash each day.
Transport
The subway was the most popular transportation system, as an average Seoul resident used it for 39 percent of all transport, the report said. The city's subway system carried almost 7.8 million passengers each day.
The next most common form of transport was the bus, at 26 percent, followed by private vehicles at 24 percent. The bus system ferried around 4.2 million persons each day.
The number of registered vehicles inched up to 3.1 million. About 90 new cars rolled out onto the city's streets every day.
