Data shows the foreign population in South Korea shrunk for the first time since 2006, registering a decline of three-point-two percent last year from the year before.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on Tuesday, the number of foreign residents stood at around two-point-15 million in November 2020, dropping by nearly 70-thousand on-year.

The figure accounts for four-point-one percent of South Korea's population.

Foreign nationals took up around one percent of the country's population in 2006, when related data was first recorded, and grew steadily since then, hitting four-point-three percent in 2019. 

The interior ministry said the decline is mainly due to the reduced number of migrant workers and foreign students entering the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.