South Korea’s population crisis has witnessed an interesting trend in the past few years, where the Korean population is seeing a drastic decline while the foreign population numbers are surging to record highs, reports citing the government have said.
According to the stats released in June 2025, South Korea’s foreign population numbers have climbed to 2.73 million, with one in three of Chinese origin.
South Korea has 1.56 million registered foreigners in the country, including 5,52,419 Koreans holding foreign citizenship, said the data from immigration figures provided by the Ministry of Justice.
Apart from that, there are 620,403 foreigners in the country on short-term stays, such as tourism.
In 2019, the country also witnessed a record 2.52 million foreign residents; however, the numbers sharply declined to 1.96 million in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Then, in a surprising rebound, the numbers swelled to 2.51 million in 2023 and hit a new high of 2.65 million by the end of that year.
When it comes to ethnicity, Chinese people dominate with 35.6 per cent, or 972,176, followed by Vietnamese with 341,153; Americans were at 196,664, Thais came in at 173,710, and Uzbeks were at 98,457.
Almost half of the foreign population in Korea is aged 20-39, suggesting the majority of the people are coming for jobs.
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The vast majority of these young men and women are living in and around Seoul and other metropolitan cities.
Around 20 per cent of these people held F-4 visas for overseas Koreans, while approximately 12 per cent had E-9 visas for non-professional workers. Other visa types included F-5 permanent residency, D-2 student, and B-2 tourist visas.
While foreign is surging, the local population, according to Morgan Stanley and Think Global Health, have pointed out the worrisome trends noticeable in the declining population numbers.
If the trend continues, the decline is projected to drastically reduce the country's population by the end of the century, potentially impacting its economy and national security.
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