Seoul, Oct 27 (IANS) Foreign tourist arrivals in South Korea this year are estimated to have already set an all-time annual record, the culture ministry said on Tuesday.
Preliminary figures from South Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism showed that this year’s arrivals reached about 18.91 million through Monday, and the total is believed to have surpassed the previous annual record of 18.94 million, set last year, Tuesday, with more than two months left in the year, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The ministry expects about 1.94 million people to visit next month if the current trend continues, with the annual total topping 20 million for the first time in the third week of November.
South Korea’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Chae Hwi-young said breaking the annual record more than two months early has brought the government’s ambitious year-end target of 23 million foreign visitors “within reach.”
Visitor numbers rose across most major markets, including Chinese-speaking regions, Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas. Growth is also spreading beyond Seoul, with more foreign tourists entering the country through regional airports and ports and visiting areas outside the capital, a trend Chae described as “very encouraging.”
“We will focus not only on quantitative expansion but also on strengthening quality so that Korea can firmly establish itself as an irreplaceable travel destination in the global tourism market,” Chae said in a press release.
Foreign visitors’ spending also jumped 47.7 per cent from a year earlier, driven mainly by shopping, accommodation, and medical and wellness services.
The government attributed the record numbers to the global popularity of South Korean pop culture, innovation by the tourism industry and public hospitality toward foreign visitors.
The data on Monday revealed that the ratio of people with migrant backgrounds living in South Korea increased in 2025 from a year earlier to 5.4 per cent, with those in their 20s leading the overall gains.
The total migrant population came to 2.81 million in 2025, up from 2.71 million a year earlier, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Data and Statistics. South Korea’s total population stood at 51.82 million.
The data ministry defines people with a migrant background as those who are immigrants themselves or have at least one parent from overseas.
The category includes foreign nationals, naturalised South Koreans and second-generation immigrants.
Foreign nationals accounted for 75.1 per cent of the population with a migrant background, followed by second-generation immigrants at 14.1 per cent.
Another 9.1 per cent acquired South Korean citizenship through naturalisation or recognition of parentage, a legal process in which a parent recognizes a child born out of wedlock as their own.
By gender, males accounted for 52.5 per cent and females made up 47.5 per cent. There were 110.7 males for every 100 females.
The working-age population, comprising people aged 15 to 64, stood at 2.3 million in 2025.
By age group, people in their 30s accounted for the largest share at 23.7 per cent, or 667,000, followed by those in their 20s at 21.6 per cent, or 607,000. People in their 40s numbered 439,000, or 15.6 per cent of the total.
The number of people in their 20s rose by 36,000 over the period, the largest increase among all age groups.
The report also showed 56 per cent of people with a migrant background lived in the greater Seoul metropolitan area, with 17.1 per cent residing in Seoul.
–IANS
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