It was found that the vast majority of Korea's people live clustered in a space that is less than one-fifth of the entire national territory.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, together with Korea Land and Geospatial InformatiX Corporation (LX), on the 20th released the "urban planning status statistics as of the end of 2025," which contain these findings.
These statistics are national approved statistics that annually compile local governments' data on zoning districts, development activity permits, and the status of urban and county planning facilities, and they are used as basic data in a wide range of areas, including future policy making.
According to the statistics, of the total land (106,563㎢) designated as statutory zoning districts, urban areas composed of residential, commercial, industrial, and green zones covered 17,740㎢, or about 16.7%. Of the total registered population of 51.12 million, 47.06 million, or about 92.1%, was found to be living in these urban spaces.
Within these urban areas, green space was the largest at 12,555㎢ (70.8%). ▲Residential areas (2,791㎢) ▲industrial areas (1,292㎢) ▲micro-zoned areas (753㎢), and commercial areas (349㎢) followed.
Compared to 2021, residential, commercial, and industrial land each increased by 1.9%, 2.0%, and 4.1%, respectively, while green space decreased by 0.3% (37㎢). On the urban outskirts, management areas and agricultural and forestry areas both declined slightly, except for a 0.1% increase in natural environment conservation areas.
Zoning districts are classified not only as urban areas but also as management areas at 27,329㎢ (25.6%), agricultural and forestry areas at 49,191㎢ (46.2%), natural environment conservation areas at 11,874㎢ (11.1%), and undesignated areas at 429㎢ (0.4%).
Growth management planning zones, designed to prevent indiscriminate development, increased substantially. As of last year, there were 13,801 such zones (4,692㎢). In particular, since 2024, with growth management plan preparation mandated for new factory construction within planned management areas, the designated area has recently expanded significantly.
By contrast, development activity permits, such as building new structures or changing land use, showed a clear decline. The number of permits last year was 169,319, continuing a steady downward trend over the past five years. By type, new building construction accounted for half (50.0%), the most, followed by changes to land form and quality (28.3%) and installation of structures (14.4%).
Urban and county planning facilities closely tied to citizens' lives—such as roads and parks—totaled 369,000 (7,237㎢). Among them, transportation facilities (32.0%) and disaster prevention facilities (31.7%) accounted for large shares. Long-unexecuted facilities, where projects had not progressed for 10 years or more, fell sharply by more than 60% over a decade, from 869㎢ in 2015 to 315㎢ last year, through ongoing reorganization.
Detailed information from these 2025 urban planning status statistics is available from today on the Toji-eum website and Jipyo Nuri.