The number of foreign residents living in Korea hit a record high of 2.58 million, accounting for 5% of the total population.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) on the 30th released the "2024 status of foreign residents in local governments," which analyzed the Population and Housing Census data from the National Data Office (formerly Statistics Korea). The count covers foreign residents who had lived in the country for more than three months as of Nov. 1, 2024.
The number of foreign residents totaled 2,583,626. That is 5% of Korea's total population of 51,805,547 based on the Population and Housing Census.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) said, "Since statistics were first released in 2006, the number of foreign residents in the country has increased every year, setting a new record last year as well."
In particular, compared with last year's statistics, the increase in international students (+26,908, up 13%) stood out. They were followed by foreign workers (+32,384, up 6.9%) and marriage migrants (+11,767, up 6.5%) in terms of growth.
Foreign residents have been steadily increasing across all 17 cities and provinces, with the highest year-over-year growth rates in South Jeolla (up 10.5%), Ulsan (up 8.9%), North Gyeongsang and South Chungcheong (both up 8.8%), and North Chungcheong (up 8.4%). The regions with the largest foreign resident populations were Gyeonggi (845,074), Seoul (450,888), South Chungcheong (169,245), Incheon (169,219), and South Gyeongsang (162,714). A total of 56.7% of all foreign residents lived in the greater Seoul area.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) said, "The expansion of foreign residents, including the increase in international students, is injecting new vitality into local communities," adding, "The central government will work with local governments to help foreign residents settle stably and to build a foundation for coexistence."