More than 1.71 million foreigners resided in South Korea in 2015, accounting for 3.4 percent of the country's total population, government data showed Monday.

According to data from the Interior Ministry and Statistics Korea, the number of foreign residents reached 1,711,013 as of Nov. 1 last year, a more than threefold increase from 536,627 in 2006, when the country began to compile such numbers.

The ratio of foreign residents to the total population also rose to 3.4 percent last year from 1.1 percent in 2006, 2.2 percent in 2009 and 3.1 percent in 2014, the data showed.

By nationality, Chinese nationals were at the top at 52.8 percent, followed by Vietnamese at 12.6 percent, Southeast Asians at 5.7 percent, Thais at 4.9 percent, Filipinos at 4.8 percent, Americans at 3.9 percent, Central Asians at 3.1 percent and Cambodians at 3.1 percent, according to the data.

By gender, 54 percent were males, with 46 percent being females.

By purpose, 66.4 percent stayed in the country for business, followed by 25.5 percent for creating families and 4.8 percent for studying. (Yonhap)