Foreign residents in Korea top 5% of population for first time

The number of foreign residents in Korea rose for the fourth consecutive year in 2025, reaching a record high and surpassing 5 percent of the country's total population for the first time.

Korea had 2,662,967 foreign residents in 2025, up 79,341, or 3.1 percent, from the previous year, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on Wednesday in its 2025 report on foreign residents by region.

Foreign residents accounted for 5.1 percent of the country's total population of 51,817,499, based on the national population and housing census.

In this tally, foreign residents are defined as people who either hold foreign citizenship now or held it at birth, or who have at least one parent who did. The statistics cover those who have lived in Korea for more than 90 days and divide them into 2,109,057 people without Korean citizenship, 256,491 people who have acquired Korean citizenship and 297,419 children of these two groups.

The proportion of foreign residents increased in all 17 metropolitan cities and provinces.

North Gyeongsang recorded the largest on-year increase at 8 percent, followed by Gangwon at 7.9 percent and Jeonnam-Gwangju at 7.8 percent. North Jeolla, North Chungcheong and South Chungcheong also recorded on-year increases of more than 5 percent.

Gyeonggi had the largest foreign resident population at 859,943, up 14,869 from the previous year. Seoul followed with 453,201, South Chungcheong with 178,229, Incheon with 174,824 and South Gyeongsang with 170,267.

The greater Seoul area was home to 1,487,968 foreign residents, which accounted for 55.9 percent of the nationwide total.

At the municipal level, Ansan in Gyeonggi had the largest foreign resident population at 109,544, followed by Hwaseong with 83,657, Siheung with 79,706, Suwon with 74,161 and Bucheon with 63,381. All five cities are located in Gyeonggi.

The number of areas classified as having a high concentration of foreign residents rose to 154 in 2025, up 12 from 142 in 2024.

Areas with a high concentration of foreign residents are defined as cities, counties or districts with at least 10,000 foreign residents or where foreign residents account for 5 percent or more of the local population.

Among foreign resident categories, international students recorded the sharpest increase. Their number rose by 41,092, or 17.6 percent, from 2024 to reach 274,329 in 2025.

The number of foreign workers increased by 11,409, or 2.3 percent, while marriage immigrants rose by 2,178, or 1.1 percent. In contrast, the number of overseas Koreans holding foreign citizenship declined by 4,381, or 1.1 percent.

The statistics are also publicly available on the ministry’s website and can be used as reference data for developing policies to help foreign residents settle into local communities.

“The increase in foreign residents shows that local communities are becoming more diverse and dynamic,” said Jang Heon-beom, director general of the Interior Ministry's Local Administration Bureau. “We hope these statistics will help develop policies that enable foreign residents to settle stably into local communities and grow together with other residents.”

BY MOON HEE-CHUL [[email protected]]