Lee Hyo-jin covers the Bank of Korea, the banking industry and broader financial news. Her previous beats include foreign affairs, North Korea and general reporting on Korean society.
Foreign population tops 4% as Korea grapples with aging workforce
Foreign workers wearing traditional Vietnamese conical hats harvest potatoes in a rural village in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, July 23, 2025. Yonhap
By Lee Hyo-jin
Korea becomes super-aged society as senior population exceeds 20%
The share of foreign residents in Korea's population exceeded 4 percent for the first time in 2025, government data showed Tuesday, as growth in the foreign population offset a decline in Korean nationals and kept the country's overall population from shrinking.
According to the annual census released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics, the number of foreign residents stood at 2.11 million as of November 2025, up 66,000, or 3.2 percent, from a year earlier.
They accounted for 4.1 percent of Korea's total population of 51.82 million. Their share has risen steadily from 3.2 percent in 2021 to 3.4 percent in 2022, 3.7 percent in 2023 and 3.9 percent in 2024.
The figures cover registered foreign residents who have stayed in Korea for more than three months.
While the number of Korean nationals fell by 54,000, or 0.1 percent, to 49.71 million, growth in the foreign population kept the country's total population from shrinking. The overall population rose by 12,000, or 0.02 percent, from a year earlier.
"The increase in the overall population was driven by growth in the foreign population despite a decline in Korean nationals," Kyoung Eun-suk, director of the population census division, said during a briefing. "The rise was largely attributable to an increase in international students and seasonal foreign workers brought in to ease labor shortages, particularly in the farming and fishing sectors."
The census also confirmed Korea's transition to a super-aged society.
People aged 65 or older accounted for 20.7 percent of the population, up from 19.5 percent a year earlier and surpassing the 20 percent threshold for the first time.
Under the U.N. definition, a country is classified as a super-aged society when at least 20 percent of its population is aged 65 or older.
Kyoung Eun-suk, director of the population census division at the Ministry of Data and Statistics, speaks during a briefing at Government Complex Sejong, Tuesday. Yonhap
While previous data released by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety showed Korea crossing the 20 percent threshold as of late 2024, this marks the first time the milestone has been confirmed in the country's official census, which serves as the benchmark for demographic policies.
The working-age population, defined as those aged 15 to 64, fell by 393,000, or 1.1 percent, from a year earlier to 35.87 million. Its share of the total population dropped to 69.2 percent, falling below 70 percent for the first time.
Amid the decline in the working-age population, foreign nationals are playing an increasingly important role.
Nearly 9 in 10 foreign residents, or 89.3 percent, were of working age, compared with 68.4 percent of Korean nationals.
By age group, people in their 30s made up the largest share of foreign residents at 27.2 percent, followed by those in their 20s at 25.5 percent and those in their 40s at 16.6 percent. The median age of foreign residents was 36.1.
By nationality, ethnic Koreans with Chinese nationality were the largest foreign group, accounting for 25.3 percent of all foreign residents. They were followed by Vietnamese at 15.1 percent, ethnic Chinese nationals at 10.5 percent and Thai nationals at 7.5 percent.
The data also pointed to a growing share of Southeast Asian communities in Korea.
Compared with 2015, the number of Vietnamese residents surged 150.6 percent, while the Thai and Nepali populations more than doubled. By contrast, the number of residents from the United States and Taiwan declined by 11.4 percent and 14.3 percent, respectively.
The shift reflects the country's growing reliance on foreign labor, with the government-run employment permit system and seasonal worker programs bringing workers mainly from Southeast Asian nations to sectors facing chronic labor shortages.