The female population outnumbered the males in Seoul for the eighth straight year last year, though the proportion of the male population grew slightly, census data showed Wednesday.

   Out of 10.5 million people living in the capital, 5.2 million or 49.5 percent were male, and 5.3 million or 50.3 percent were female as of December, showing a male-to-female ratio of 98.09, according to data from the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

   A high male-to-female ratio reversed in 2003 when the figure first went below 100, which means a greater number of females, according to the data. Since then, the trend has been maintained.

   The ratio climbed to 98.09 in 2010, up 0.01 from the previous year, under a city project that registered homeless people, whose population is predominantly male, officials said.

   "The high female ratio can be attributed to the facts that women live longer than men and the society is rapidly aging," Kang Byung-ho, a city official, said.

   South Korea's population first passed 50 million last year.

(Yonhap; News)