2.22 Million Foreign Residents in Korea... Increased by 7.9% in One Year

Foreign Workers, Marriage Migrants, and Childbirth Among Total Population Account for 4.3%

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The number of foreign residents living in South Korea was found to be 2.22 million, accounting for 4.3% of the total population.

According to the '2019 Local Government Foreign Resident Status' announced on the 29th by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety using data from the Population and Housing Census by Statistics Korea, as of November 1 last year, the total number of foreign residents living in the country, including those without Korean nationality, those who acquired Korean nationality, and children of foreign residents, was 2,216,612.

This represents an increase of 7.9% (161,991 people) compared to November 2018 (2,054,621 people) one year earlier. It corresponds to 4.3% of the total domestic population of 51,779,203 and ranks between Chungcheongnam-do (2,188,649 people), which is the 8th largest population among the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces, and Daegu (2,429,940 people).

Trends in the Increase of Foreign Residents in Korea

By type of foreign resident, those without Korean nationality (foreign workers, overseas Koreans with foreign nationality, marriage immigrants, etc.) accounted for 1,778,918 (80.3%), those who acquired Korean nationality were 185,728 (8.4%), and children of foreign residents (by birth) were 251,966 (11.4%).

By residential area, Gyeonggi Province had 720,090 (32.5%), Seoul 465,885 (21.0%), and Gyeongnam 134,675 (6.1%), with the majority of foreign residents living in the Seoul metropolitan area including Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon, accounting for 59.4%.

By city, county, and district, Ansan in Gyeonggi Province had the highest number of foreign residents at 92,787, followed by Suwon (67,073), Hwaseong (65,040), and Siheung (59,634), all in Gyeonggi Province.

There were 95 cities, counties, and districts where foreign residents numbered more than 10,000 or accounted for more than 5% of the population, including 23 in Gyeonggi, 17 in Seoul, 10 in Gyeongnam, 9 in Gyeongbuk, and 7 in Chungnam.

The statistics announced this time will be used as basic data for central administrative agencies and local governments to establish policies related to the settlement of foreign residents in local communities.

Lee Jae-gwan, Director of the Local Autonomy and Decentralization Office at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "Going forward, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety will continue to support local governments by creating basic infrastructure projects for settlement support in local communities, which are the actual living grounds of foreign residents, and by sharing and spreading best practices to help foreign residents settle well and live comfortably."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.