In this file photo, international students participate in a Korean word quiz event to commemorate Hangul Day in the southeastern city of Daegu on Oct. 6, 2023. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of foreign residents in South Korea has hit a record high at nearly 2.26 million, with foreign students increasing by 21 percent year-on-year to fuel the jump, the interior ministry said Wednesday.
As of Nov. 1, 2022, the number of foreign residents had stood at around 2.258 million people, a 5.8 percent jump from a year earlier, according to a report released by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The number includes foreign nationals residing in the country for more than 90 days, naturalized Koreans and the children of multicultural families, with one of the parents being a foreigner.
It marks the largest foreign population in the country since relevant statistics were first compiled in 2006, with foreigners accounting for 4.4 percent of the total population last year.
The country’s foreign population declined in 2020 and 2021, but shifted back to an upward trend following the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The number of international students and overseas Koreans rose by 20.9 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively, year-on-year, driving the leap in the foreign population.
Foreign nationals without Korean citizenship made up around 1.75 million, and the number of naturalized Koreans came to 223,825 people. Some 280,000 children were born in multicultural families last year, the data showed.
The number of foreign nationals increased in all 17 cities and provinces, but Gyeonggi Province surrounding the capital Seoul was hosting the biggest foreign population at 751,507 people, up 37,010 from last year.
Seoul and Incheon also recorded an uptick in foreign residents with an increase of 15,546 and 12,171 people, respectively.
(Yonhap)
