Korea's official population has reached the 50 million mark, standing at 50.06 million as of Dec. 31 last year, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security said Friday. The statistics include 49.77 million registered residents and 289,000 people whose resident registrations had been canceled for diverse reasons. It is the first time for the monthly population statistics to include those without a permanent address.

The nation's population first surpassed 30 million in 1968, growing to over 40 million in 1983 and topping 50 million 27 years later. According to the newly released statistics, men outnumber women by 24.93 million (registered residents) to 24.84 million, or 50.1 percent to 49.9 percent.

Gyeonggi Province is the most populated area of the country with 11.47 million people, followed by Seoul with 10.21 million. Busan is in a distant third place with 3.54 million, followed by South Gyeongsang Province with 3.25 million, and Incheon with 2.72 million.

The statistics do not include foreigners. The number of residents in the nation including foreigners topped 50 million in 2007.