Foreign residents hold South Korea’s population flat as working-age base shrinks



Briefings Foreign residents hold South Korea’s population flat as working-age base shrinks Korean nationals fall for fifth year, working-age share drops below 70% for first time, men in their 20s decline 3.8% KOREA PROJuly 29, 2026 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON An aerial view of Hanjin Heavy Industries' Yeongdo Shipyard in Busan, with the Busan Harbor Bridge in the background, June 30, 2016 \| Image: National Museum of Korean Contemporary History South Korea’s population increased by just 12,000 to 51.82 million as of Nov. 1, 2025, with foreign residents accounting for the entire rise, the Ministry of Data and Statistics said Tuesday. The number of Korean nationals fell by 54,000 to 49.71 million, marking a fifth consecutive annual decline, while the foreign population rose by 66,000 to 2.11 million, or 4.1% of the total. Some 89.3% of foreign residents were of working age, compared with 68.4% of Korean nationals. The working-age population, defined as those aged 15 to 64, declined by 393,000 to 35.87 million and fell below 70% of the © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. LATEST ANALYSIS 01Trump’s Korea investment victory lap masks safeguards Seoul still controls 02North Korean POW dispute tests Seoul-Kyiv trust and future Ukraine policy 03South Korea’s CPTPP push exposes the cost of turning trade gains into consensus 04AI storage boom gives South Korea battery makers an EV overcapacity lifeline 05South Korea’s Mexico strategy runs into the hard limits of USMCA politics 06Preschool test ban forces South Korea’s English hagwons to rethink placement 07Lee Jae Myung’s Wall Street pitch tests South Korea’s capital market credibility 08US midterm clock raises stakes for South Korea’s $200 billion investment talks

Briefings

Foreign residents hold South Korea’s population flat as working-age base shrinks

Korean nationals fall for fifth year, working-age share drops below 70% for first time, men in their 20s decline 3.8%

KOREA PROJuly 29, 2026

Foreign residents hold South Korea’s population flat as working-age base shrinks

An aerial view of Hanjin Heavy Industries' Yeongdo Shipyard in Busan, with the Busan Harbor Bridge in the background, June 30, 2016 | Image: National Museum of Korean Contemporary History

South Korea’s population increased by just 12,000 to 51.82 million as of Nov. 1, 2025, with foreign residents accounting for the entire rise, the Ministry of Data and Statistics said Tuesday. The number of Korean nationals fell by 54,000 to 49.71 million, marking a fifth consecutive annual decline, while the foreign population rose by 66,000 to 2.11 million, or 4.1% of the total. Some 89.3% of foreign residents were of working age, compared with 68.4% of Korean nationals.

The working-age population, defined as those aged 15 to 64, declined by 393,000 to 35.87 million and fell below 70% of the

Foreign residents hold South Korea’s population flat as working-age base shrinks

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