The ratio of people with migrant backgrounds living in South Korea increased in 2025 from a year earlier to 5.4 per cent, data showed on Monday, with those in their 20s leading the overall gains.
The total migrant population came to 2.81 million in 2025, up from 2.71 million a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. South Korea’s total population stood at 51.82 million.
The data ministry defines people with a migrant background as those who are immigrants themselves or have at least one parent from overseas.
The category includes foreign nationals, naturalised South Koreans and second-generation immigrants.
Foreign nationals accounted for 75.1 per cent of the population with a migrant background, followed by second-generation immigrants at 14.1 per cent, reports Yonhap news agency.
Another 9.1 per cent acquired South Korean citizenship through naturalisation or recognition of parentage, a legal process in which a parent recognises a child born out of wedlock as their own.
By gender, males accounted for 52.5 per cent and females made up 47.5 per cent. There were 110.7 males for every 100 females.
The working-age population, comprising people aged 15 to 64, stood at 2.3 million in 2025.
By age group, people in their 30s accounted for the largest share at 23.7 per cent, or 667,000, followed by those in their 20s at 21.6 per cent, or 607,000. People in their 40s numbered 439,000, or 15.6 per cent of the total.
The number of people in their 20s rose by 36,000 over the period, the largest increase among all age groups.
The report also showed 56 per cent of people with a migrant background lived in the greater Seoul metropolitan area, with 17.1 per cent residing in Seoul.
South Chungcheong Province had the highest proportion of residents with a migrant background at 8.3 per cent, followed by North Chungcheong Province and Gyeonggi Province, both at 6.5 per cent. The figure for Seoul stood at 5.1 per cent.
The southeastern city of Daegu had the lowest proportion at 2.9 per cent.
The number of people aged 24 and younger with a migrant background rose 6.6 per cent from a year earlier to 790,000.
By their parents’ nationality, those with Vietnamese parents accounted for 28.1 per cent, followed by those with Chinese parents at 15.7 per cent. Those with ethnic Korean parents of Chinese nationality accounted for a separate 11.4 per cent.
Other major countries represented by their parents’ nationalities included Uzbekistan, the Philippines, Cambodia, Mongolia and Nepal.
