No. of foreign residents in S. Korea hits record 2.05 mln in 2018

SEJONG, Oct. 31 (Yonhap) -- More than 2 million foreigners were registered as residents in South Korea as of November last year, bolstered by a growing number of those with permanent residency, government data showed Thursday.

The number of foreign residents totaled 2,054,621 as of Nov. 1, 2018, up 10.4 percent from a year earlier, making up 4 percent of the country's entire population of 51,629,512, according to the interior ministry.

The figure represents a two-fold increase from 2009, when the number of foreign residents topped the 1 million threshold.

Foreign workers, Koreans with foreign citizenship, marriage migrants and others with permanent residency account for 80.4 percent, naturalized South Korean citizens 8.6 percent and children of foreign residents 11 percent.

More than 60 percent of foreign residents live in Seoul and its adjacent metropolitan areas including Gyeonggi Province.

Among cities, wards and counties across the country, the city of Ansan in Gyeonggi Province is home to the biggest number of foreign residents at 89,093, followed by the cities of Suwon and Hwaseong also in Gyeonggi with 63,931 and 59,278, respectively, and Seoul's Yeongdeungpo Ward with 56,483.

There are 82 municipalities nationwide that are home to more than 1 foreign resident or where foreign residents make up more than 5 percent of the population.

namsh@yna.co.kr
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