South Korea

Interesting Facts About South Korea

• South Korea has the world's lowest fertility rate, standing at 0.72 children per woman in 2023, prompting the government to declare it a 'national emergency' in 2024.
• About half of South Korea's population of roughly 51.7 million lives in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, making it the world's second largest metropolitan area.
• South Korea is among the most ethnically homogeneous societies in the world, with ethnic Koreans representing approximately 96% of the total population.
• The country's population more than doubled from 21.5 million in 1955 to 50 million by 2010, but is now expected to decline to 36 million by 2072.
• Large numbers of ethnic Koreans live overseas in diaspora communities, with the largest populations in China (2.3 million), the United States (1.8 million), Japan (850,000), and Canada (250,000).
• In 2020, South Korea recorded more deaths than births for the first time since modern records began, marking a historic demographic shift.

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