The Foreign Residents Index
Where foreign residents in Korea actually live, by province — 2,459,542 people as of 2023, 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). 2023 count. Retrieved 2026-09-10.
- 1Gyeonggi경기도+7.8%809,801
- 2Seoul서울특별시+1.5%449,014
- 3Incheon인천광역시+9.5%160,859
- 4Chungnam충청남도+14.4%155,589
- 5Gyeongnam경상남도+17%150,643
- 6Gyeongbuk경상북도+13.1%118,274
- 7Chungbuk충청북도+13.1%89,823
- 8Jeonnam전라남도+18.5%86,729
- 9Busan부산광역시+10.2%83,401
- 10Jeonbuk전북특별자치도+13.3%73,802
- 11Daegu대구광역시+9.8%58,944
- 12Gwangju광주광역시+6.3%46,859
- 13Gangwon강원특별자치도+14.3%46,856
- 14Ulsan울산광역시+15.6%41,698
- 15Daejeon대전광역시+9.7%39,969
- 16Jeju제주특별자치도+8.6%36,830
- 17Sejong세종특별자치시+7.1%10,451
Practical takeaways
- Gyeonggi and Seoul together hold 51.2% of the total, a heavier concentration than visitor numbers show.
- The fastest growth is in Jeonnam (+18.5%) · Gyeongnam (+17%) · Ulsan (+15.6%) — the increase is happening in the middle of the table, not at the top.
- Bottom-ranked Sejong has 10,451, about 1.3% of top-ranked Gyeonggi.
Computed only from the table above — nothing added from outside this dataset.
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