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Attracting 1 million skilled foreign workers could boost GDP by 6%: Study

Published: 13 Aug. 2025, 18:47

Foreign workers walk along Ansan Multicultural Food Street in Ansan, Gyeonggi, on July 29. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Attracting 1 million skilled foreign workers to Korea could boost the country’s GDP by 6 percent, a new study said Wednesday.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) released a report titled "Analysis of the Economic Impact of Attracting Overseas Talent" (translated), analyzing the economic effects of attracting overseas talent. It found that a 1 percentage point increase in the share of registered foreigners within the economically active population — people aged 15 and older who are working or seeking work — raises per capita gross regional domestic product (GRDP) by about 0.11 percent.

On a national scale, the report estimated that bringing in 1 million foreigners could add at least 145 trillion won ($105 billion) in value, equivalent to 6 percent of GDP as of 2023.

“When highly skilled foreign professionals with specialized knowledge and technology come to Korea, it is not just about increasing the population," said Kim Duk-pa, an economics professor at Korea University. "It also boosts consumer spending and can maximize economic ripple effects by improving labor productivity, strengthening industrial competitiveness and advancing the industrial structure.”

The report identified overseas talent recruitment as a key solution to what it called the “ABCD” challenges for Korea’s economic growth — AI, birthrate, competitiveness and domestic demand.

It suggested building foreigner-friendly cities with incentives such as visa benefits, tax reductions, education and medical infrastructure and deregulation to help overseas workers settle in.

Other proposals included attracting global semiconductor fabrication plants and implementing a “train first, bring later” model to cultivate foreign talent abroad before bringing them into Korea to meet the needs of Korean companies.

“The race to secure global talent has intensified with the advent of the AI era,” said Lee Jong-myeong, head of KCCI’s Industrial Innovation Division. “We need to create competitive cities where foreign professionals can quickly settle in Korea.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom staff.
BY KIM KI-HWAN [[email protected]]