Long-term foreign residents increase to record high of 2.58 mln in S. Korea

There had been 2,583,626 foreign residents staying in the country for at least three months as of Nov. 1, 2024, the ministry said, citing data from Statistics Korea's population census.

This is the highest number since such statistics were first published in 2006. The number stood at 2.46 million a year earlier.

If compared with the population of the nation's 17 metropolitan cities and provinces, the size of the foreign population was similar to that of North Gyeongsang Province, which ranks 6th with a population of 2,578,999, the ministry noted.

In detail, the number of foreign residents who did not have Korean nationality increased 5.6 percent to about 2.04 million, and those with Korean nationality increased 4.7 percent to 245,578, it noted. The number of children of foreign residents born in South Korea increased 1.9 percent, or 5,418, to 295,304.

In particular, the number of migrant workers and international students increased by 6.9 percent and 13 percent, respectively, to 32,384 and 26,908, the ministry said.

It added that 56.7 percent, or 1.46 million, of all foreign residents were living in the Seoul metropolitan area.

As reported previously, more than 11,000 ethnic Kazakhs have returned to the historical homeland and obtained the status of Kandas since the beginning of 2025.