Statistics Korea said South Korea’s population rose for a third consecutive year
to 51.8 million in 2025, up about 12,000 from 2024, as an increase in foreign
residents offset a continued decline in Korean nationals. Korean citizens fell
for a fifth straight year to 49.7 million while foreign residents climbed to a
record 2.10 million, or 4.1% of the population. South Korea formally joins the
ranks of ‘super-aged’ societies, with those aged 65+ at 20.7% of the population;
the 15–64 age group slipped below 70% for the first time. The working-age
population fell by 393,000 year-on-year. Foreign residents are increasingly
concentrated in the labor force: 89.3% are of working age versus 68.4% of Korean
nationals; foreign resident numbers have risen since 2022 while Korean nationals
have declined annually since 2021.
