The number of foreign residents in the country last month set a record-high 2.73 million. Shown are foreign visitors at Daecheon Beach on July 25 on the opening day of the Boryeong Mud Festival in Boryeong, Chungcheongnam-do Province.

By Charles Audouin

The number of foreign residents in the country last month set a record-high 2.73 million, comprising 5.3% of the national population of 51,164,582.

The Korean Immigration Service under the Ministry of Justice on July 18 said this in releasing its monthly report on policy toward immigration and expats. The number of international residents late last month was 2,732,797, up 1.5% from May.

By category, the number of long-term foreign residents was 1,559,975 and that of ethnic Koreans from abroad 552,419. Others on short-term stays like tourists numbered 620,403.

In 2019, the foreign population marked a then record-high 2.52 million but declined over the next two years after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, recording 2.04 million in 2020 and 1.96 million in 2021. The figure steadily rose to 2.25 million in 2022, 2.51 million in 2023 and 2.65 million last year.

The most represented nationality was Chinese with 972,176, or 35.6% of the total, followed by Vietnamese (12.4%), American (7.1%), Thai (6.3%), and Uzbekistani (3.6%) in that order.

Over half of registered expats (54.1%) lived in the Greater Seoul area. Second was the Yeongnam area comprising Busan, Daegu, Ulsan and the two Gyeongsang-do provinces (20.3%); third the Chungcheong-do area of Daejeon, Sejong and the two Chungcheong-do provinces (12.9%); and fourth the Honam area spanning Gwangju, the two Jeolla-do provinces and Jeju Island (8.8%).

By age, most foreign residents were in the 30-39 age range (25.7%), followed by those 20-29 (23.1%), 40-49 (16.7%), 60 or above (13.5%), 50-59 (12.3%) and 19 or under (8.7%).

Most expats were ethnic Koreans from abroad holding the F-4 visa with 554,895, followed by employees with the E-9 (non-professional employment) with 341,453, permanent residents (F-5) 214,036 and students (D-2) 191,297.

caudouin@korea.kr