The Foreign Residents Index
Gyeonggi led Korean provinces and cities with 845,074 foreign residents in 2024, according to Foreign Residents by Local Government (Ministry of the Interior and Safety).
Where foreign residents in Korea actually live, by province — 2,583,626 people as of 2024, from the government's annual count. All seventeen provinces, in the order the numbers put them.
Source: Foreign Residents by Local Government (Ministry of the Interior and Safety) (행정안전부 지방자치단체 외국인주민 현황) — Ministry of the Interior and Safety (행정안전부). 2024 count. Retrieved 2026-10-17.
Data change history
We will record changes from the next data update. Earlier changes have not been reconstructed.
Change types and comparisons
A period change reflects a new period. Same-period data changes distinguish confirmed source corrections from reasons still under review. Changes to coverage or methods require care when comparing. More than one type can apply.
A single month, a year-to-date total, and a moving window cover different spans. Entering or leaving a top-N list alone does not establish a change in the population studied. Counts of observed stations or countries describe the saved data, not necessarily the source population.
- 1Gyeonggi경기도+4.4%845,074
- 2Seoul서울특별시+0.4%450,888
- 3Chungnam충청남도+8.8%169,245
- 4Incheon인천광역시+5.2%169,219
- 5Gyeongnam경상남도+8%162,714
- 6Gyeongbuk경상북도+8.8%128,725
- 7Chungbuk충청북도+8.4%97,341
- 8Jeonnam전라남도+10.5%95,832
- 9Busan부산광역시+6.2%88,542
- 10Jeonbuk전북특별자치도+7.3%79,224
- 11Daegu대구광역시+4.4%61,554
- 12Gangwon강원특별자치도+8.1%50,652
- 13Gwangju광주광역시+1.9%47,728
- 14Ulsan울산광역시+8.9%45,392
- 15Daejeon대전광역시+5.2%42,043
- 16Jeju제주특별자치도+5.1%38,714
- 17Sejong세종특별자치시+2.8%10,739
Practical takeaways
- Gyeonggi and Seoul together hold 50.2% of the total, a heavier concentration than visitor numbers show.
- The fastest growth is in Jeonnam (+10.5%) · Ulsan (+8.9%) · Chungnam (+8.8%) — the increase is happening in the middle of the table, not at the top.
- Bottom-ranked Sejong has 10,739, about 1.3% of top-ranked Gyeonggi.
Computed only from the table above — nothing added from outside this dataset.
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