In 2024, Seoul had the highest population density of all provinces in South Korea, with about ****** people per square kilometer. The port city of Busan, which lies 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, followed with about ***** residents per square kilometer. With 90 people per square kilometer, Gangwon was the province with the lowest population density. Population of Seoul The capital of South Korea, Seoul, is the country's largest city with a population of nearly 9.5 million people, meaning that about 20 percent of South Korea's total population live in Seoul. Together with the surrounding Gyeonggi Province and Incheon Metropolitan Area, the greater Seoul region (or Seoul Capital Area) is home to half of the total population of South Korea. This region also forms one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world. Solving the problem of overpopulation in Seoul One of the major problems stemming from overpopulation in Seoul is the housing shortage, leading to a significant surge in real estate prices. Over the past few years, several efforts have been made to curb the excessive population concentration and to solve the associated economic and social problems. In 2007, for example, former President Roh Moo-hyun attempted to move the country's administrative capital to Sejong, which is located 120 kilometers south of Seoul. Although the grand plan did not fully work out, around 40 central administrative agencies have since been moved from Seoul to Sejong, turning the city into the de facto administrative capital of South Korea.

In 2023, the population density in South Korea stood at around *** inhabitants per square kilometer, slightly up from *** in the previous year. The nationwide population density has been increasing steadily over the past decades. The highest density was in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, with ****** people per square kilometer. UrbanizationSouth Korea was primarily an agricultural nation. In the decades following its independence from Japanese rule in 1945, both the dictatorships and democratic governments that governed South Korea focused on industrialization and modernization of the country. The urban population has grown by about **** million over the past 20 years, while the rural population has fallen by around *** million. In 2023, around ** percent of the population lived in an urban area. The most populous city SeoulSeoul’s high population density is not surprising. The capital city is typically grouped with the province of Gyeonggi, which resembles a donut with Seoul at its center, and the metropolitan port city of Incheon, collectively known as the Seoul Capital Area. This is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world and serves as the political, economic, and cultural center of South Korea. With more than **** millio* residents, half of South Korea’s population lives in this area.

In 2024, Songpa-gu had the largest population among the 25 districts in Seoul, South Korea, with around ****** thousand inhabitants. That year, the total population of Seoul stood at about ***** million.

Population density per pixel at 100 metre resolution. WorldPop provides estimates of numbers of people residing in each 100x100m grid cell for every low and middle income country. Through ingegrating cencus, survey, satellite and GIS datasets in a flexible machine-learning framework, high resolution maps of population counts and densities for 2000-2020 are produced, along with accompanying metadata. DATASET: Alpha version 2010 and 2015 estimates of numbers of people per grid square, with national totals adjusted to match UN population division estimates (http://esa.un.org/wpp/) and remaining unadjusted. REGION: East Asia and Pacific SPATIAL RESOLUTION: 0.000833333 decimal degrees (approx 100m at the equator) PROJECTION: Geographic, WGS84 UNITS: Estimated persons per grid square MAPPING APPROACH: Land cover based, as described in: Linard, C., Gilbert, M., Snow, R.W., Noor, A.M. and Tatem, A.J., 2012, Population distribution, settlement patterns and accessibility across Africa in 2010, PLoS ONE, 7(2): e31743. FORMAT: Geotiff (zipped using 7-zip (open access tool): www.7-zip.org) FILENAMES: Example - AGO10adjv4.tif = Angola (AGO) population count map for 2010 (10) adjusted to match UN national estimates (adj), version 4 (v4). Population maps are updated to new versions when improved census or other input data become available. Republic of Korea data available from WorldPop here.

In 2023, the population density in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, reached around ****** inhabitants per square kilometer. In 2015, the population density peaked at about ****** inhabitants per square kilometer and started to gradually decrease in the following years.

In 2024, Seoul's population amounted to around *** million, a decline from approximately *** million residents in the previous year. Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is one of the cities with the highest population densities in the world.

The Seoul metropolitan region (Seoul + Gyeonggi/Incheon) dominates in education investment and EdTech adoption. This dominance is rooted in high population density, elevated household incomes, intense competition for top universities, and concentration of major hagwon chains headquartered there. In addition, international student inflows also favor Seoul-based universities, and technology infrastructure (broadband, device penetration) is more advanced in urban cores. Thus, capital-area hubs remain the crucibles of innovation, scale, and market pull for education providers. TheSouth Korea education/EdTech market in 2024 is estimated to be worth approximately USD 4.9 billion, according to a report for its digital education segment.Growth over the 2018–2023 period reflects strong adoption of digital learning, government initiatives (such as AI digital textbooks, smart classrooms, and “Digital Leadership Schools”), and private household spending on hagwon and supplementary education. South Korea Education Market Overview and Size

In 2024, the population of Gyeonggi Province in South Korea stood at around **** million. Seoul followed with about *** million inhabitants. The total population of South Korea stood at around **** million that year.

In 2023, there were approximately *** million people aged 65 years and older in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Seoul followed with about *** million. The total number of people aged 65 and older was around *** million that year.

In 2023, there were approximately 2.66 doctors for every 1,000 inhabitants in South Korea. This was a slight increase compared to the preceding year. This ratio has increased steadily since 2000, with the exception of a slight drop in 2004. However, South Korea still has few doctors relative to its population. An attempt to increase the number of medical student admissions quotas in February 2024 led to an ongoing strike of healthcare workers and conflict between medical professionals and the government. Shortage of medical staffs The Korean government officially declared a shortage of several thousand doctors across the nation and recommended the training of an additional 150 doctors every year to make up the shortfall. Furthermore, doctors of traditional Korean medicine are counted among the number of doctors, meaning there are even fewer doctors of modern medical sciences than official figures suggest. Yet there are several factors, such as resistance from doctors, preventing the government from simply increasing the number of medical graduates. Regional imbalances in the medical environmentSome experts refute the government’s claims that Korea faces a doctor shortage and point towards other factors. For example, Korea has a higher population density than other countries, meaning that the average Korean doctor meets with more patients than an Austrian or Norwegian one would. Indeed, half the population is concentrated in the Seoul Capital Area. Additionally, Koreans see doctors over 21 times per year on average, which is far more frequently than any other OECD nationals. Despite this, Korea spends a lower share of its GDP on medical expenditures than other OECD countries, implying that medical personnel do more work for less financial compensation. Regional disparities where doctors are concentrated in Seoul and other major cities is also an issue. The doctor-to-people ratio in Seoul is higher than the national ratio, and the same as the OECD average. Many argue that a shortage of nurses is a greater concern than an alleged shortage of doctors. While the number of trained nurses is adequate, many leave because of harsh working conditions.

In South Korea, approximately 70.69 percent of the population was between 15 and 64 years old in 2023, while those above the age of 64 made up around 18.34 percent. The youngest generation made up an even smaller percentage than the elderly, but were the only group that did not increase in size over the last decade, partly due to a decrease in births since 2007. Reasons for fewer children While it is not always the case that family sizes shrink when there are less births per woman, the fertility rate in South Korea is undisputably decreasing overall and less children are born. The reasons people cite for having fewer children vary greatly by gender and marital status in South Korea: For example, more married people than singles - and of those more married women than men - say that the difficulty of maintaining a work life balance is the largest concern for them. Meanwhile, men express more economic concerns about child support, and notably more singles nowadays say they feel no need to have children.

As of December 2024, the mean purchase price of housing in Seoul, South Korea, amounted to around 866 million South Korean won. The average price of detached houses amounted to around 1.14 billion won while the price of apartments was about 1.13 billion South Korean won. Apartments in South Korea Among all housing types, apartments are the most expensive, costing more than one billion South Korean won on average. Living in apartments is typical for Seoul, as an increasing number of citizens move towards the city, causing high population density. As of 2022, more than 40 percent of all households were living in apartments, excluding alternative housing, such as officetels or goshiwons. Gangnam Style Based on the average selling price of apartments in Seoul, Gangnam is the most expensive area in Seoul to live in, with an average sales price of around 2.38 billion South Korean won. The area became internationally known due to the viral YouTube hit Gangnam Style by South Korean artist PSY. Since Gangnam is known for its wealthy citizens, the song was inspired by their mannerisms.

According to a survey conducted in South Korea in 2023, over ** percent of respondents reported no religious affiliation, while approximately ** percent identified as Christians and ** percent as Buddhists. Religious population South Korea is a multi-religious society where Christianity, Buddhism, and various other religions coexist with shamanism. According to a previous study, the domestic religious population appeared to decline over time after reaching its peak in 2005, at nearly ** million people. In contrast, the share of people who are religiously unaffiliated has increased in recent years. Within the last two decades, the religiously unaffiliated population has increased from about ** percent to more than ** percent. Shamanism Shamanism has continued to significantly influence the daily lives of many South Koreans. According to a survey conducted in 2023, about ** percent of respondents reported having consulted a fortune-teller within the past year. Roughly ** percent of those respondents were already affiliated with a religion.

In 2024, there were just over *********** housing transactions in South Korea, up from about the ******* seen in the two years prior. The number of housing transactions in South Korea has notably decreased since 2020. Housing in South Korea There are around ** million housing units and counting for the more than ** million people living in South Korea. Given the mountainous topography of the peninsula and the imbalance in population density between urban and rural areas, there is limited space for constructing houses. Apartments make up most of the housing in the country as they allow for the vertical stacking of housing units. Housing outside of Seoul Detached houses have become more expensive over the years as people want space in Seoul and the surrounding areas. Many people who can afford to commute have purchased houses in the South Korean province of Gyeonggi, which is just outside the Seoul metropolitan area. The island of Jeju, below the southern coast, is also a popular holiday and retirement destination. Far less dense than the capital, detached houses constitute the highest number of housing units on the island.

As of October 2025, the mean purchase price of housing in Seoul, South Korea, amounted to around *** million South Korean won. The average price of apartments amounted to around **** billion won, while the price of detached houses was about **** billion South Korean won. Apartments in South Korea Among all housing types, apartments are the most expensive, costing more than *** billion South Korean won on average. Living in apartments is typical for Seoul, as an increasing number of citizens move towards the city, causing high population density. As of 2022, more than ** percent of all households were living in apartments, excluding alternative housing, such as officetels or goshiwons. Gangnam Style Based on the average selling price of apartments in Seoul, Gangnam is the most expensive area in Seoul to live in, with an average sales price of around **** billion South Korean won. The area became internationally known due to the viral YouTube hit Gangnam Style by South Korean artist PSY. Since Gangnam is known for its wealthy citizens, the song was inspired by their mannerisms.

In February 2021, the average monthly rent for one-bedroom flats in Seoul, South Korea, amounted to around ******* South Korean won, up from about ******* South Korean won in the previous month. The average monthly rent for one-bedroom apartments in Seoul has shown an upward trend recently.

Living in Seoul In a metropolitan area like Seoul, housing is a scarce commodity, and prices are constantly rising as a result. The high population density of the capital, and the increasing trend to move towards the city to enjoy urban life is reflected in the housing situation. This can also be seen in the most common type of housing in Seoul, which is apartments. This is a general trend nationwide, with high-rise apartments over **** stories being the most frequent type of housing in South Korea.

Single-households are most prominent The most prominent type of household in South Korea is single households, as they make up more than ** percent of all domestic households. To aid this portion of the public, there are housing support programs single households can participate in. The share of participants for such programs was the highest in loans for housing leases. Other offered programs are subsidies for monthly rent or the supply of long-term public rental housing.

According to data on K-pop popularity based on YouTube views, only **** percent of the total number of views came from South Korea, the homeland of K-pop. In terms of audience share, the country was followed by Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the United States. K-pop's popularity in the global music market was led by BTS, Blackpink, TWICE, Momoland, and EXO, and these five artists accounted for **** percent of all K-pop YouTube views. K-pop popularity world mapIn terms of total YouTube views, Asia and America are evenly distributed in the top 10 rankings. However, K-pop is more popular in Asia when comparing the countries by population. According to data analyzed by K-pop experts, Korea has generated the most video views compared by population, followed by Asian countries such as Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Vietnam. When analyzed by city, people in Ho Chi Minh and Bangkok were watching Korean pop music videos more than people in Seoul. Also, BTS' popularity in the Americas and Europe is high, followed by Black Pink. In Asia, Black Pink, BTS and TWICE have gained popularity. K-pop consumption around the worldAs users can easily access music content online, such as YouTube and Facebook, more and more people are enjoying Korean music content. Accordingly, the amount of money spent per month on K-pop content over the world has also doubled and stood at *** U.S. dollars per person in 2019. People in the United Arab Emirates particularly spent the highest amount of money on K-pop content, an average of **** U.S. dollars per month which is far higher than in other countries. On the other hand, in the world an average of **** hours was spent monthly watching K-pop content. People in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam spent more time enjoying the same content.