Total Population Increases After 3 Years... Foreigners Rise While Natives Decline

Statistics Korea, 2023 Population and Housing Census
Decline Continues in Working-Age Population Aged 15-64

Last year, the total population in South Korea increased for the first time in three years. Although the number of Korean nationals continued to decline due to low birth rates and aging, the significant rise in foreigners contributed to the overall increase.

According to the '2023 Population and Housing Census Results' released by Statistics Korea on the 29th, the total population last year was 51.775 million, an increase of 82,000 (0.2%) compared to the previous year. This broke the two-year consecutive decline since 2021 and marked an increase after three years.

The growth in total population was driven by foreigners. The resident foreign population last year was 1.935 million, up 183,000 (10.4%) from the previous year. By nationality, Chinese (ethnic Koreans) were the largest group at 532,000 (27.5%), followed by Vietnamese at 247,000 (12.8%) and Chinese at 221,000 (11.4%). The combined Chinese and Vietnamese nationals accounted for 1 million (51.7%).

Statistics Korea analyzed that the increase was influenced by the rise in arrivals after the COVID-19 pandemic and the expansion of the Employment Permit System.

Foreign students participating in the 'International Summer School Chobok Samgyetang Day' held at K-Kitchen Hansang, Hansung University, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, four days before Chobok, are eating samgyetang. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

On the other hand, the number of Korean nationals has been declining for three consecutive years since 2021. After dropping to 49.94 million in 2022, falling back into the 40 million range for the first time in four years, it further decreased by 100,000 to 49.839 million last year.

By age group, the aging phenomenon was evident, with decreases in the youth and working-age populations and an increase in the elderly population.

The working-age population aged 15 to 64 was 36.546 million (70.6%), down 140,000 from the previous year. The youth population aged 0 to 14 also declined by 241,000 to 5.619 million.

In contrast, the elderly population aged 65 and over increased by 462,000 to 9.609 million, moving closer to the '10 million mark.'

Due to aging, the median age rose by 0.6 years from the previous year to 45.7 years. The aging index, which represents the number of elderly per 100 youth, was 171.0, an increase of 57.1 from 113.9 in 2018.

The youth dependency ratio, the number of youth supported per 100 working-age people, was 15.4, down 0.6 from the previous year, while the elderly dependency ratio, the number of elderly supported per 100 working-age people, increased by 1.4 to 26.3.

By region, the total population of the Seoul Capital Area was 26.226 million, accounting for 50.7% of the total population.

Last year, the total number of households was 22.728 million, an increase of 345,000 (1.5%) from the previous year. Among these, general households numbered 22.073 million (97.1%), while collective and foreigner households accounted for 655,000 (2.9%).

Among general households, family households were the most common at 13.699 million (62.1%). Single-person households accounted for 7.829 million (35.5%), and non-family households made up 545,000 (2.5%).

Compared to the previous year, family households decreased by 58,000, while single-person households increased by 327,000 and non-family households rose by 31,000.

By household size, single-person households had the highest proportion at 35.5%, followed by two-person households (28.8%), three-person households (19.0%), and four-person households (13.3%).

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