Seoul is less crowded now than any other time in the past three decades, the latest data shows. 

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Wednesday, as of the end of 2016, Seoul’s population marked 10.2 million, including non-Korean residents, down 93,081 from a year earlier. 

Population density similarly decreased to 16,861 per square kilometer of land, also the lowest in the past three decades. 

The number of non-ethnic Korean residents registered in Seoul was 273,000, or 2.7 percent of Seoul’s total population. Seoul saw the highest number of foreign residents in 2011 with 279,000.

The numbers of Korean and foreign residents registered in Seoul steadily increased from 2004 to 2010, but they have taken a downward turn since 2010, data showed.

The average age of people living in Seoul was 41, up from 40 the previous year.

Those aged 65 or more totaled 1.3 million, up by 33,314 compared to the previous year. Among the 1.3 million, about 289,000, or 22 percent, live alone. 

The average people in a household in Seoul was 2.37, continuing a fall that dates to 2012. 

Following a low birthrate trend, the number of children at kindergartens and day care centers also declined. The number of nursery facilities fell to 6,368, down by 230, from 2015. But the number of company day care centers increased by 181.

The report also showed that on an average day in Seoul there are 206 births and 119 deaths, while over 155 couples tie the knot and 49 couples separate. Over 7.81 million people use the subway and 4.28 million people take public buses. 

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)