By Kwon Mee-yoo
The population of Seoul increased 4.3 times and the size of the capital has doubled over the last half a century, the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) said in a report Wednesday.
Seoul City, which has released an annual statistical report since 1961, published the 2010 edition, covering the last 50 years of development in the capital.
According to the report, the size of Seoul has doubled to 605 square kilometers last year from 268 square kilometers in 1960, while the population rose to 10.4 million in 2009 from 2.4 million in 1960.
The number of international residents jumped more than 24 times since 1970 when records on them were started ― from 10,463 to 255,749 at the end of last year.
In the past 50 years, the size of Korea’s economy has expanded and consumer prices have also surged. Overall consumer prices grew 8.8 times during this period.
The net average income increased 15 times ― from 229,000 won to 3.5 million won. As private cars and the Internet became popular, the ratio of transportation and communication in household expenses jumped from 2 percent to 17 percent.
The biggest change in the urban landscape came in apartment buildings soaring all over the city. As of last year, there were 1.4 million apartment complexes in Seoul, an increase of 60 times from only 23,987 in 1970.
In the 1960s, more than 140 elementary school students were in a class, but nowadays only 28 students are assigned to a classroom on average.
The number of household members under the same roof fell to 2.48 on average from 5.47 in 1960. The annual temperature rose to 12.9 degrees Celsius from 12.1 degrees.
"The survey portrays the last 50 years in Seoul and sheds new light on the changes in the city," a city official said.
The statistics are available on the city's website.