International college students collect collectively for a Christmas occasion at Keimyung College in Daegu, Dec. 1. Newsis
Korea’s international resident inhabitants has climbed to an all-time excessive, pushed by a pointy rise in younger migrants and a very sturdy inflow from Vietnam, in accordance with new knowledge.
The 2025 Immigrant Residence and Employment Survey, revealed Thursday, reveals that as of Could, the variety of international residents aged 15 or older exceeded 1.69 million, up from 1.56 million a 12 months earlier, a rise of roughly 8.3 p.c. The determine accounts for about 3.3 p.c of Korea’s complete inhabitants of roughly 51.8 million.
It’s the second-fastest annual improve since 2017.
The expansion is principally concentrated amongst youthful age teams. The inhabitants of foreigners aged 15 to 29 expanded by 12.8 p.c (59,000 individuals), whereas these of their 30s grew by 7.8 p.c (34,000). In distinction, the variety of international residents of their 50s fell barely, by 0.4 p.c (1,000).
By nationality, ethnic Korean Chinese language nationals stay the biggest international resident group, with 506,000 residents. Vietnamese rank second at 270,000, however they’re rising far sooner than another main ethnic group.
The survey reveals that the Vietnamese inhabitants in Korea jumped by 15.5 p.c (36,000), in contrast with Chinese language nationals, which elevated by 3.3 p.c.
The report means that international residents are more and more oriented towards lengthy‑time period life in Korea somewhat than brief‑time period employment. Amongst nonpermanent residents, greater than 89 p.c stated they want to proceed staying right here.
International employees harvest water parsley at a farm in Busan, Dec. 15. Yonhap
The growth in international residents has been accompanied by rising labor pressure participation. Their employment charge hit 65.5 p.c, up 0.8 share factors from the earlier 12 months. Practically 45 p.c are within the manufacturing and mining industries, whereas 20.4 p.c are within the retail, wholesale, lodging and meals companies sectors.
When requested why they selected to return to Korea to work, a majority (74.4 p.c) stated excessive wages, adopted by passable working environments (9.3 p.c).
When it comes to visa standing, international nationals of Korean descent (F‑4) and low‑expert employees (E‑9) are the 2 largest teams amongst international residents. There are 410,000 F‑4 visa holders and 321,000 E‑9 employees right here.
However essentially the most dramatic development was within the scholar phase. Foreigners with student-related visas (D‑2 and D‑4) elevated by 18.2 p.c ― a further 36,000 individuals in only one 12 months ― as Korean universities proceed to draw younger individuals from throughout Asia and past.
The variety of international college students by nationality additional underlines the rising Vietnamese inhabitants right here. Amongst these on scholar visas, Vietnamese nationals account for 100,000, adopted by Chinese language (excluding ethnic Korean Chinese language) at 45,000 and Uzbeks (17,000).
When requested why they selected to review in Korea, international college students most frequently cited the standard of educational packages (34 p.c), adopted by a “good match between Korean majors and private pursuits” (20.5 p.c) and the idea that Korean faculty diplomas will assist them discover a job (10.1 p.c).
Requested about their majors, 29.3 p.c stated they research social science topics, adopted by Korean research (17.8 p.c), Korean language (16.6 p.c) and engineering (15 p.c).
Most international college students say they’re “happy” with the training companies they obtain right here, with 84 p.c approving of the companies. Only one.6 p.c stated they’re “unhappy.”
Many of those college students say they want to proceed to remain after commencement. Requested about their plan after leaving faculty, 65.5 p.c stated they need to proceed to reside in Korea.
