Up 8% from Last Year: Driven by Study and Employment
Concentration in Gyeonggi Region Including Hwaseong, Siheung, and Ansan
The number of registered foreign nationals residing in South Korea for long-term purposes such as study or employment has surpassed 1.6 million, with more than half of them living in the Seoul metropolitan area.
Job seekers visiting the 2025 Foreign Employment and Recruitment Fair held last month at SETEC in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, are looking at the job posting boards. Photo by Yonhap News
According to the monthly statistical report released by the Immigration Policy Headquarters of the Ministry of Justice on December 27, as of November this year, the total number of registered foreign nationals in South Korea stood at 1,606,633, marking an 8.0% increase from the same period last year (1,488,091). This growth rate significantly exceeds the overall increase in the foreign resident population during the same period, which was 3.2%.
Registered foreign nationals are individuals who have entered the country with the intention of staying for more than 90 days and have completed the foreigner registration process. They are eligible to receive a foreigner registration card and are required to report any change of residence within 14 days. Statistics show that the number of registered foreign nationals has increased annually, from 1,093,891 in 2021, to 1,189,585 in 2022, 1,348,626 in 2023, and 1,488,353 in 2024, surpassing 1.6 million for the first time this year.
By visa category, the largest group was holders of the Employment Permit System Non-Professional Employment (E-9) visa at 335,122, followed by Student (D-2) visa holders at 222,099, Permanent Resident (F-5) visa holders at 219,266, and Marriage Migrant (F-6) visa holders at 152,546.
In terms of regional distribution, 54.0% of registered foreign nationals reside in the Seoul metropolitan area, followed by 20.6% in the Yeongnam region, 12.8% in the Chungcheong region, and 8.9% in the Honam region. Within the metropolitan area, Hwaseong-si in Gyeonggi Province had the largest number of registered foreign nationals at 54,584, followed by Siheung-si with 42,158, Danwon-gu in Ansan-si with 38,398, and Pyeongtaek-si with 35,893.
By nationality, Chinese nationals accounted for the largest proportion at 29.8%, followed by Vietnamese at 18.4%, Nepalese at 5.5%, Uzbek at 4.3%, and Cambodians at 4.1%. Among the 553,927 foreign nationals of Korean descent, 69.7% held Chinese nationality, followed by 9.5% with U.S. nationality, 5.9% with Russian nationality, and 5.3% with Uzbek nationality.
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