The current population of South Korea is 51,700,480 people, as of 2025 based on the adjusted UN estimation. The latest officially reported number was 51,751,065 in 2024.
Population facts:
- For the last 20 years, South Korea has had an average growth rate of 0.36% per year.
- The UN estimates that South Korea's population is going to decline by -12.6% to 45.2M people by 2050.
- South Korea is ranked 31/197 by population and was ranked 25th in 2005.
- Since 2005, population has increased from 48.2M people to 51.7M (7.3% growth in 20 years).
- South Korea accounts for 0.63% of the world's population.
- South Korea's population peaked in 2020 at 51.8M people and has been in decline since.
South Korea population clock
South Korea
|
World
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Current population |
51700480
|
8266870341
|
| Population rank | 31/197 | N/A |
| Percent of world population | 0.63% | N/A |
| One net population change |
13.7 minutes
|
0.41 seconds
|
| One birth every |
2.26 minutes
|
0.24 seconds
|
| One death every |
1.69 minutes
|
0.52 seconds
|
| Daily growth/decline | +105 | +211,178 |
| Annual growth/decline | +38,446 | +77,079,845 |
| Annual growth/decline rate | +0.07% | +0.96% |
| Population growth rate rank | 159/197 | N/A |
| One migration net change every |
6.92 minutes
|
N/A |
| Annual migration change | +75,963 | N/A |
South Korea population history and growth rate by year chart
| Year | Population | Growth rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 25,012,374 | - |
| 1961 | 25,765,673 | 3.01% |
| 1962 | 26,513,030 | 2.9% |
| 1963 | 27,261,747 | 2.82% |
| 1964 | 27,984,155 | 2.65% |
| 1965 | 28,704,674 | 2.57% |
| 1966 | 29,435,571 | 2.55% |
| 1967 | 30,130,983 | 2.36% |
| 1968 | 30,838,302 | 2.35% |
| 1969 | 31,544,266 | 2.29% |
| 1970 | 32,240,827 | 2.21% |
| 1971 | 32,882,704 | 1.99% |
| 1972 | 33,505,406 | 1.89% |
| 1973 | 34,103,149 | 1.78% |
| 1974 | 34,692,266 | 1.73% |
| 1975 | 35,280,725 | 1.7% |
| 1976 | 35,848,523 | 1.61% |
| 1977 | 36,411,795 | 1.57% |
| 1978 | 36,969,185 | 1.53% |
| 1979 | 37,534,236 | 1.53% |
| 1980 | 38,123,775 | 1.57% |
| 1981 | 38,723,248 | 1.57% |
| 1982 | 39,326,352 | 1.56% |
| 1983 | 39,910,403 | 1.49% |
| 1984 | 40,405,956 | 1.24% |
| 1985 | 40,805,744 | 0.99% |
| 1986 | 41,213,674 | 1% |
| 1987 | 41,621,690 | 0.99% |
| 1988 | 42,031,247 | 0.98% |
| 1989 | 42,449,038 | 0.99% |
| 1990 | 42,869,283 | 0.99% |
| 1991 | 43,295,704 | 0.99% |
| 1992 | 43,747,962 | 1.04% |
| 1993 | 44,194,628 | 1.02% |
| 1994 | 44,641,540 | 1.01% |
| 1995 | 45,092,991 | 1.01% |
| 1996 | 45,524,681 | 0.96% |
| 1997 | 45,953,580 | 0.94% |
| 1998 | 46,286,503 | 0.72% |
| 1999 | 46,616,677 | 0.71% |
| 2000 | 47,008,111 | 0.84% |
| 2001 | 47,370,164 | 0.77% |
| 2002 | 47,644,736 | 0.58% |
| 2003 | 47,892,330 | 0.52% |
| 2004 | 48,082,519 | 0.4% |
| 2005 | 48,184,561 | 0.21% |
| 2006 | 48,438,292 | 0.53% |
| 2007 | 48,683,638 | 0.51% |
| 2008 | 49,054,708 | 0.76% |
| 2009 | 49,307,835 | 0.52% |
| 2010 | 49,554,112 | 0.5% |
| 2011 | 49,936,638 | 0.77% |
| 2012 | 50,199,853 | 0.53% |
| 2013 | 50,428,893 | 0.46% |
| 2014 | 50,746,659 | 0.63% |
| 2015 | 51,014,947 | 0.53% |
| 2016 | 51,217,803 | 0.4% |
| 2017 | 51,361,911 | 0.28% |
| 2018 | 51,585,058 | 0.43% |
| 2019 | 51,764,822 | 0.35% |
| 2020 | 51,836,239 | 0.14% |
| 2021 | 51,769,539 | -0.13% |
| 2022 | 51,672,569 | -0.19% |
| 2023 | 51,712,619 | 0.08% |
| 2024 | 51,751,065 | 0.07% |
| 2025 | 51,700,480 | -0.1% |
| 2026 | 51,633,793 | -0.13% |
| 2027 | 51,552,198 | -0.16% |
| 2028 | 51,456,707 | -0.19% |
| 2029 | 51,347,230 | -0.21% |
| 2030 | 51,221,713 | -0.24% |
| 2031 | 51,081,220 | -0.27% |
| 2032 | 50,924,233 | -0.31% |
| 2033 | 50,747,132 | -0.35% |
| 2034 | 50,549,508 | -0.39% |
| 2035 | 50,333,286 | -0.43% |
| 2036 | 50,098,951 | -0.47% |
| 2037 | 49,845,669 | -0.51% |
| 2038 | 49,573,234 | -0.55% |
| 2039 | 49,283,770 | -0.58% |
| 2040 | 48,980,369 | -0.62% |
| 2041 | 48,661,905 | -0.65% |
| 2042 | 48,331,004 | -0.68% |
| 2043 | 47,990,085 | -0.71% |
| 2044 | 47,634,183 | -0.74% |
| 2045 | 47,263,526 | -0.78% |
| 2046 | 46,881,228 | -0.81% |
| 2047 | 46,482,133 | -0.85% |
| 2048 | 46,063,595 | -0.9% |
| 2049 | 45,626,805 | -0.95% |
| 2050 | 45,172,356 | -1% |
South Korea has a population of 51.7M as of 2025, compared to 51M in 2015, 48.2M in 2005, and 45.1M in 1995.
Over the past 10 years, the population has had a trend to increase by an average of 0.13% per year. South Korea is ranked 157th out of 197 countries by a 10-year average growth rate.
The UN's World Population Prospects forecasts that with changing growth rate trends in 20 years (in 2045) South Korea will have 47,263,526 people (-8.58% decline) with a rank change from 31st to 43rd.
By the year 2100, South Korea's population is projected to decline by 57.7% to 21.9M people.
Largest cities by population
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South Korea population statistics
|
South Korea
|
World
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 84.5 years | 73.5 years |
| Average age | 44.8 years | 33.8 years |
| Median age | 46.1 years | 31.6 years |
| Male:Female ratio | 49.9:50.1 | 50.3:49.7 |
| Fertility rate | 0.72 births per woman | 2.2 births per woman |
| Population density | 1,373 ppl/mi² | 141.6 ppl/mi² |
Population map with other countries
Population
Growth rate visualization in other countries
Growth rate
Relevant pages:
South Korea topic pages:
Population comparisons
