The number of foreigners residing in South Korea surpassed 2.8 million for the first time in October. According to immigration data from the justice ministry, this was driven by increases in long-term stays for work, study and seasonal employment. The figure marks a record high following recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to immigration data from the justice ministry, 2,837,525 foreign nationals were registered as staying in South Korea as of October, up 3.6 percent from the previous month. This surpasses the pre-pandemic peak of 2.524 million in 2019, after a sharp drop to 1.956 million in 2021 due to COVID-19, followed by a rebound to 2.507 million in 2023 and 2.65 million in 2024.
By type of stay, long-term residents totaled about 2.16 million, up 6.3 percent from a year earlier, while short-term residents rose 2.7 percent to 676,000. Among visa categories, seasonal workers under the E-8 visa surged 58.7 percent on-year to 65,000. Holders of the D-2 student visa increased 22.1 percent to 222,000, while E-9 non-professional employment visa holders rose 2.4 percent to 335,000.
Chinese nationals accounted for the largest share by nationality at 975,000, or 34.4 percent, followed by citizens of Vietnam at 12.5 percent, the United States at 6.9 percent and Thailand at 6 percent. This growth reflects South Korea's labor shortages and expanding educational opportunities, signaling a shift toward a more multicultural society.