The population of Korean nationals living in the South Korean capital of Seoul fell below 10-million threshold for the first time in 28 years, government data showed.

According to Census report by the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Wednesday, the number of registered residents in the capital totaled 10,204,000 at the end of December last year, down 93,000 from a year ago. Among them, 9,931,000 were Koreans, and 273,000 foreigners. Residents have been moving out of Seoul amid spike in rent prices and living cost since 2010. The capital saw an exodus of 371,000 residents over the last six years.

The capital is also aging in line with the graying in broad population. The average age of Seoul was 41.1 last year, up from 40.6 in 2015.

Those aged 65 or more totaled 1,301,000, taking up 12.7 percent of the Seoul population. Primary schoolers shrank to 436,000 last year from 536,000 in 2011.

By Park Joon-hyung and Lee Ha-yeon

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