Demographics of South Korea

Source UN (World Population Prospects 2019)
Date04 Nov 2021

As of 2021, the population of South Korea is projected at 51.31 million, up by 0.07% compared with 51.27 million in 2020. South Korea is ranked 28th in terms of population and 196th in terms of population growth rate.

There are 0.35 million births in South Korea in 2021. That is 967 per day, which is ranked 72nd. The crude birth rate is 6.88 per 1000 people. There are 0.34 million deaths in South Korea in 2021. That is 921 per day, which is ranked 31st. The crude death rate is 6.55 per 1000 people.

42.06 million people are living in urban areas, which is 81.41% of South Korea population. South Korea is ranked 63rd in terms of urbanization.

The Sex Ratio in South Korea in 2021 is 100.20 males per 100 females. There are 25.68 million males and 25.63 million females in South Korea. The percentage of female population is 49.95% compare to 50.05% male population. South Korea has 52.07 thousand more males than females. South Korea is at 133rd position out of 201 countries/territories in terms of female to male ratio.

  • Population
  • Growth rate

South Korea population

Year Population Growth (%)
195019,211,387-
195521,514,5643.12
196025,329,5213.16
196528,895,5572.43
197032,195,6792.07
197535,378,6571.72
198038,045,6051.42
198540,804,4061.26
199042,918,4161.01
199545,292,5211.05
200047,379,2370.77
200548,701,0690.43
201049,545,6380.4
201550,823,0870.43
201650,983,4460.32
201751,096,4080.22
201851,171,7000.15
201951,225,3210.1
202051,269,1830.09
202151,305,1840.07
  • Total
  • Crude

South Korea death and birth rate

Year Total Crude(per 1000)
DeathBirthCrude deathCrude birth
1950496,513663,23925.3335.26
1955371,064956,65217.0943.60
1960320,4631,064,25712.6242.28
1965308,5361,013,43710.6635.12
1970279,604961,8078.6829.79
1975262,730888,1387.4325.17
1980262,407814,3556.8821.32
1985252,429705,5196.2117.38
1990244,282664,1315.6815.39
1995248,213686,2725.4815.17
2000254,193569,2995.3812.05
2005255,646471,6325.269.69
2010263,497454,7265.309.15
2015285,148415,8625.638.21
2020325,595358,7936.357.00
2021336,010352,7926.556.88
  • Population
  • Urbanization

Urban and rural population of South Korea

Year Population Urbanization
UrbanRuralgrowth rate (%)Urban (%)
19504,102,42415,108,961-21.354
19555,251,88516,279,4465.8524.392
19607,022,05818,318,8605.7827.710
19659,351,71319,555,3585.6332.351
197013,110,50219,098,8127.2040.704
197516,997,15518,389,3524.8948.033
198021,582,19116,468,2334.6356.720
198526,474,83114,333,7383.7864.876
199031,696,10311,227,0283.3873.844
199535,441,3199,857,2922.0878.239
200037,729,4279,656,8851.0779.621
200539,622,0109,086,4870.8681.345
201040,601,6148,951,2410.4881.936
201541,301,8519,291,8110.3281.634
202041,934,1109,572,8650.3181.414
202142,063,7159,602,9400.3181.414
  • Population pyramid
  • Gender ratio

South Korea population by Age Group (2011)

Age group Male Female Total M per 100 F
PersonsShare (%)
00-04 919,642 869,925 1,789,567 3.49 105.715
05-09 1,143,183 1,084,050 2,227,233 4.34 105.455
10-14 1,173,673 1,103,738 2,277,411 4.44 106.336
15-19 1,244,619 1,148,468 2,393,087 4.66 108.372
20-24 1,612,626 1,476,567 3,089,193 6.02 109.215
25-29 1,869,705 1,635,512 3,505,217 6.83 114.319
30-34 1,740,224 1,542,405 3,282,629 6.40 112.825
35-39 1,934,516 1,776,233 3,710,749 7.23 108.911
40-44 2,000,386 1,887,528 3,887,914 7.58 105.979
45-49 2,158,593 2,075,397 4,233,990 8.25 104.009
50-54 2,173,281 2,148,945 4,322,226 8.42 101.132
55-59 2,096,877 2,094,575 4,191,452 8.17 100.110
60-64 1,917,242 1,977,602 3,894,844 7.59 96.948
65-69 1,377,268 1,485,373 2,862,641 5.58 92.722
70-74 966,234 1,104,711 2,070,945 4.04 87.465
75-79 686,193 909,880 1,596,073 3.11 75.416
80-84 424,932 698,002 1,122,934 2.19 60.878
85-89 180,872 403,871 584,743 1.14 44.785
90-94 49,072 159,891 208,963 0.41 30.691
95-99 8,818 39,609 48,427 0.09 22.263
100+ 672 4,274 4,946 0.01 15.723
Total 25,678,628 25,626,556 51,305,184 100.203