South Korea's migrant-background population climbs above five percent of residents

According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, individuals with migration backgrounds now represent 5.4% of South Korea’s total population, a rise of 0.2 percentage points compared with the previous year. The increase of 95 thousand people exceeds the country’s overall population growth, which remained essentially flat. Among those with migration backgrounds, roughly one-quarter are South Korean nationals and the remaining three-quarters are foreign nationals.

The gender balance is skewed toward men, with about 111 males for every 100 females. Age analysis shows the 30-year-old cohort is the largest, followed by those in their 20s and 40s, while those under 24 make up 28% of the group. Vietnamese parents are the most common at 28%, followed by Chinese at 15.7% and Korean-Chinese at 11.4%. Over half of the migrant-background population resides in Seoul and its metropolitan area.