🇰🇷 South Korea Population 2026

As of 2026, the population of South Korea is 51,600,388, ranking #31 in the world (0.62% of the global population), based on UN World Population Prospects 2024. The population is shrinking at -0.14% per year. The biggest city is Seoul with 10,349,312 inhabitants.

Live estimate

51,598,970

Growth rate

-0.14%

Density

522

people / km² (1351 / mi²)

Median age

46.2

Fertility rate

0.76

births per woman

Life expectancy

84.6

years

South Korea population 1950–2100

Population of South Korea, 1950–2100 — solid: UN estimates, dashed: UN medium-variant projection.

By 2050, the population of South Korea is projected to reach 45,143,134, and 21,848,791 by 2100.

South Korea population by year

Year	Population	Growth	Density /km²	Median age
2026	51,600,388	-0.14%	521.5	46.2
2025	51,667,029	-0.12%	522.2	45.6
2024	51,717,590	-0.08%	522.7	45.0
2023	51,748,739	-0.04%	523.0	44.5
2022	51,782,512	-0.09%	523.4	43.9
2021	51,848,398	-0.17%	524.0	43.4
2020	51,858,482	0.13%	524.1	42.8
2019	51,767,846	0.22%	523.2	42.2
2018	51,640,894	0.27%	521.9	41.6
2017	51,486,270	0.33%	520.4	41.1
2016	51,297,839	0.40%	518.5	40.5
2015	50,983,912	0.83%	515.3	39.9
2014	50,539,056	0.93%	510.8	39.2
2013	50,071,164	0.94%	506.1	38.5
2012	49,599,580	0.96%	501.3	37.9
2011	49,127,644	0.95%	496.5	37.2
2010	48,769,332	0.51%	492.9	36.6
2009	48,546,687	0.41%	490.7	36.0
2008	48,356,493	0.38%	488.7	35.4
2007	48,178,118	0.36%	486.9	34.8
2006	48,006,518	0.35%	485.2	34.2
2005	47,851,644	0.29%	483.6	33.6
2004	47,697,076	0.35%	482.1	32.9
2003	47,514,160	0.41%	480.2	32.3
2002	47,299,120	0.49%	478.0	31.7
2001	47,043,468	0.59%	475.5	31.2
2000	46,766,661	0.59%	472.7	30.7
1999	46,500,383	0.55%	470.0	30.2
1998	46,230,878	0.61%	467.2	29.7
1997	45,941,537	0.65%	464.3	29.2
1996	45,638,700	0.68%	461.3	28.8
1995	45,368,425	0.51%	458.5	28.3
1994	45,130,840	0.54%	456.1	27.9
1993	44,887,724	0.54%	453.7	27.4
1992	44,653,695	0.50%	451.3	26.9
1991	44,439,150	0.46%	449.1	26.3
1990	44,081,427	1.16%	445.5	25.8
1989	43,524,767	1.38%	439.9	25.3
1988	42,922,977	1.40%	433.8	24.8
1987	42,322,092	1.42%	427.7	24.3
1986	41,718,505	1.46%	421.6	23.8
1985	41,148,963	1.29%	415.9	23.3
1984	40,598,300	1.40%	410.3	22.8
1983	40,000,941	1.56%	404.3	22.3
1982	39,356,154	1.69%	397.8	21.8
1981	38,689,189	1.73%	391.0	21.4
1980	38,141,106	1.12%	385.5	20.9
1979	37,710,899	1.15%	381.1	20.4
1978	37,281,935	1.14%	376.8	20.0
1977	36,843,637	1.23%	372.4	19.6
1976	36,379,925	1.30%	367.7	19.2
1975	35,875,742	1.49%	362.6	18.8
1974	35,287,837	1.82%	356.6	18.5
1973	34,625,849	1.97%	350.0	18.2
1972	33,936,466	2.05%	343.0	18.0
1971	33,239,853	2.10%	335.9	17.8
1970	32,542,197	2.15%	328.9	17.7
1969	31,852,761	2.13%	321.9	17.6
1968	31,175,290	2.17%	315.1	17.6
1967	30,495,728	2.24%	308.2	17.5
1966	29,845,941	2.06%	301.6	17.5
1965	29,284,338	1.73%	296.0	17.5
1964	28,744,977	1.99%	290.5	17.7
1963	28,145,540	2.23%	284.5	17.9
1962	27,509,237	2.34%	278.0	18.1
1961	26,852,951	2.49%	271.4	18.3
1960	26,115,379	3.09%	263.9	18.3
1959	25,298,233	3.27%	255.7	18.3
1958	24,473,927	3.36%	247.4	18.3
1957	23,660,791	3.40%	239.1	18.2
1956	22,874,434	3.36%	231.2	18.0
1955	22,125,103	3.30%	223.6	17.9
1954	21,415,573	3.21%	216.4	17.7
1953	20,775,325	2.85%	210.0	17.6
1952	20,229,879	2.47%	204.5	17.5
1951	19,868,990	1.12%	200.8	17.5
1950	19,757,321	0.00%	199.7	17.7

Year	Population	Growth	Density /km²	Median age
2027	51,518,845	-0.17%	520.7	46.8
2028	51,423,430	-0.20%	519.7	47.3
2029	51,314,016	-0.23%	518.6	47.9
2030	51,188,584	-0.26%	517.4	48.5
2031	51,048,174	-0.29%	515.9	49.0
2032	50,891,289	-0.33%	514.3	49.6
2033	50,714,304	-0.37%	512.6	50.1
2034	50,516,809	-0.41%	510.6	50.7
2035	50,300,733	-0.45%	508.4	51.2
2036	50,066,544	-0.49%	506.0	51.6
2037	49,813,426	-0.53%	503.5	52.1
2038	49,541,158	-0.57%	500.7	52.5
2039	49,251,889	-0.60%	497.8	52.9
2040	48,948,687	-0.63%	494.7	53.3
2041	48,630,433	-0.67%	491.5	53.7
2042	48,299,744	-0.69%	488.2	54.0
2043	47,959,040	-0.72%	484.7	54.4
2044	47,603,366	-0.77%	481.1	54.7
2045	47,232,956	-0.80%	477.4	55.0
2046	46,850,899	-0.83%	473.5	55.3
2047	46,452,061	-0.88%	469.5	55.7
2048	46,033,794	-0.93%	465.3	56.0
2049	45,597,294	-0.98%	460.8	56.4
2050	45,143,134	-1.02%	456.3	56.7
2051	44,671,150	-1.08%	451.5	57.1
2052	44,178,842	-1.14%	446.5	57.5
2053	43,672,043	-1.17%	441.4	57.8
2054	43,157,452	-1.20%	436.2	58.2
2055	42,632,670	-1.25%	430.9	58.5
2056	42,095,098	-1.29%	425.4	58.8
2057	41,545,089	-1.34%	419.9	59.2
2058	40,984,543	-1.38%	414.2	59.5
2059	40,421,032	-1.39%	408.5	59.8
2060	39,857,228	-1.42%	402.8	60.1
2061	39,296,690	-1.42%	397.2	60.3
2062	38,739,045	-1.44%	391.5	60.6
2063	38,183,167	-1.45%	385.9	60.8
2064	37,632,823	-1.46%	380.3	60.9
2065	37,088,067	-1.46%	374.8	61.0
2066	36,550,312	-1.46%	369.4	61.1
2067	36,018,518	-1.47%	364.0	61.2
2068	35,493,421	-1.47%	358.7	61.3
2069	34,971,814	-1.49%	353.5	61.4
2070	34,452,987	-1.50%	348.2	61.5
2071	33,941,698	-1.50%	343.0	61.6
2072	33,438,135	-1.50%	338.0	61.8
2073	32,943,024	-1.49%	332.9	61.9
2074	32,455,482	-1.49%	328.0	62.1
2075	31,974,833	-1.49%	323.2	62.2
2076	31,501,188	-1.49%	318.4	62.4
2077	31,033,654	-1.50%	313.7	62.6
2078	30,572,950	-1.50%	309.0	62.7
2079	30,119,415	-1.49%	304.4	62.8
2080	29,671,508	-1.50%	299.9	63.0
2081	29,227,156	-1.52%	295.4	63.0
2082	28,788,346	-1.51%	291.0	63.0
2083	28,355,718	-1.52%	286.6	62.9
2084	27,928,602	-1.52%	282.3	62.7
2085	27,505,925	-1.53%	278.0	62.5
2086	27,086,569	-1.54%	273.8	62.2
2087	26,670,753	-1.55%	269.6	61.9
2088	26,258,922	-1.56%	265.4	61.6
2089	25,851,776	-1.57%	261.3	61.4
2090	25,449,094	-1.57%	257.2	61.2
2091	25,051,893	-1.57%	253.2	61.0
2092	24,660,821	-1.57%	249.2	60.9
2093	24,277,125	-1.56%	245.4	60.7
2094	23,902,073	-1.55%	241.6	60.6
2095	23,535,546	-1.54%	237.9	60.5
2096	23,179,092	-1.51%	234.3	60.3
2097	22,833,463	-1.49%	230.8	60.2
2098	22,496,481	-1.48%	227.4	60.1
2099	22,168,455	-1.46%	224.1	60.0
2100	21,848,791	-1.45%	220.8	59.8

States & provinces of South Korea by population

#	State / province	Population	Share
1	Gyeonggi	13,511,676	26.2%
2	Seoul	9,659,322	18.7%
3	South Gyeongsang	3,447,687	6.7%
4	Busan	3,343,903	6.5%
5	Incheon	3,016,250	5.8%
6	North Gyeongsang	2,708,787	5.2%
7	Daegu	2,365,523	4.6%
8	South Chungcheong	2,123,037	4.1%
9	South Jeolla	1,902,324	3.7%
10	North Jeolla	1,769,607	3.4%
11	North Chungcheong	1,578,934	3.1%
12	Gangwon	1,537,339	3.0%
13	Daejeon	1,470,336	2.8%
14	Gwangju	1,411,357	2.7%
15	Ulsan	1,098,728	2.1%
16	Jeju	678,324	1.3%
17	Sejong	394,630	0.8%

State populations: GeoNames (latest official figures, reference dates vary by country).

Biggest cities in South Korea

#	City	Region	Population
1	Seoul capital	Seoul	10,349,312
2	Busan	Busan	3,285,147
3	Incheon	Incheon	3,015,482
4	Daegu	Daegu	2,365,523
5	Daejeon	Daejeon	1,441,203
6	Gwangju	Gwangju	1,401,235
7	Suwon	Gyeonggi-do	1,234,582
8	Ulsan	Ulsan	1,098,421
9	Goyang-si	Gyeonggi-do	1,061,752
10	Changwon	Gyeongsangnam-do	1,025,702
11	Seongnam-si	Gyeonggi-do	914,832
12	Cheongju-si	North Chungcheong	852,147
13	Bucheon-si	Gyeonggi-do	850,731
14	Cheonan	Chungcheongnam-do	658,831
15	Hwaseong-si	Gyeonggi-do	640,890

FAQ

What is the population of South Korea in 2026?

The population of South Korea is 51,600,388 in 2026, according to UN World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant).

What is the biggest city in South Korea?

Seoul is the biggest city in South Korea with 10,349,312 inhabitants and it is also the capital.

Is the population of South Korea growing or shrinking?

The population of South Korea is shrinking at -0.14% per year.

Neighboring countries

🇰🇵 North Korea

Sources

Country data: United Nations World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Retrieved 2026-07-06.
City and state data: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Retrieved 2026-07-06.

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