In 2023, Seoul had the highest population density of all provinces in South Korea, with about 15,533 people per square kilometer. The port city of Busan, which lies 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, followed with about 4,258 residents per square kilometer. With 91 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.

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. Data and Resources TIFF Republic of Korea - Population density (2015) DATASET: Alpha version 2010 and 2015 estimates of numbers of people per grid...

In 2023, the population density in South Korea stood at around 515 inhabitants per square kilometer, slightly up from 514 in the previous year. The nationwide population density had been increasing steadily over the past two decades. The highest density was in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, with about 15.5 thousand people per square kilometer. Urban vs. rural populationSouth Korea was predominantly an agricultural country after it gained independence from Japanese rule in 1945. In the decades that followed, the dictatorships and democratic governments that governed Korea strove to industrialize and modernize the country. One of the results of such policies was an increasing urbanization in combination with a depopulation of the rural areas. The urban population increased by approximately four million in the last twenty years, as the rural population dropped by approximately one million. In addition, the degree of urbanization has been between 81 and 82 percent over the past decade. This means around 81 percent of the total population was living in an urban area. The most populous city SeoulSeoul’s particularly high population density is not surprising. The capital city is usually grouped together with the province of Gyeonggi, which is shaped like a donut with Seoul at its center, and the metropolitan port city of Incheon as the Seoul Capital Area. This is one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas and is the political, economic, and cultural center of South Korea. One half of Korea’s population of over 51 million people live in this area. The city is home to around 9.4 million people. The concentration of power, wealth, and jobs attract more and more people from all over the country. The large number of apartment complexes in Korea further intensify the population density. High-rise apartments, ranging from ten to twenty stories or even higher, are the most common form of housing and are especially widespread in Seoul.

In 2023, South Korea had a population density of 515 inhabitants per square kilometer, while of North Korea was 209 inhabitants per square kilometer. The population density in South Korea is approximately twice that of North Korea.

The statistic shows the total population of South Korea from 2019 to 2023, with projections up until 2029. In 2023, the total population of South Korea was about 51.71 million people. Population of South Korea South Korea, also called Republic of Korea, has one of the highest population densities worldwide, i.e. a very high number of inhabitants per square kilometer. However, this does not equal bad standard of living; on the Human Development Index, which ranks countries by their level of living standards using key factors, such as unemployment rate, literacy rate, fertility and mortality rates, etc., South Korea is among the highest-ranked countries. When looking at the aforementioned key factors, South Korea indeed seems to offer a fairly stable environment for its inhabitants, economically and demographically: The country’s unemployment rate has been relatively steady for the past decade, its gross domestic product (GDP) is constantly increasing, and it is among the countries with the highest trade surplus worldwide. As for standard of living, life expectancy at birth in South Korea is among the highest worldwide – South Korea is even mentioned in a recent ranking of the best birthplaces for children. Despite the high population density, South Korea is now one of the countries with the lowest fertility rates, i.e. the number of babies born by women of childbearing age. This apparent discrepancy could be explained by a high number of immigrants coupled with the aforementioned high life expectancy.

WorldPop produces different types of gridded population count datasets, depending on the methods used and end application. Please make sure you have read our Mapping Populations overview page before choosing and downloading a dataset.

Datasets are available to download in Geotiff and ASCII XYZ format at a resolution of 30 arc-seconds (approximately 1km at the equator)

-Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020: Population density datasets for all countries of the World for each year 2000-2020 – derived from the corresponding Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 population count datasets by dividing the number of people in each pixel by the pixel surface area. These are produced using the unconstrained top-down modelling method.
-Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 UN adjusted: Population density datasets for all countries of the World for each year 2000-2020 – derived from the corresponding Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 population UN adjusted count datasets by dividing the number of people in each pixel, adjusted to match the country total from the official United Nations population estimates (UN 2019), by the pixel surface area. These are produced using the unconstrained top-down modelling method.

Data for earlier dates is available directly from WorldPop.

WorldPop (www.worldpop.org - School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton; Department of Geography and Geosciences, University of Louisville; Departement de Geographie, Universite de Namur) and Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University (2018). Global High Resolution Population Denominators Project - Funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1134076). https://dx.doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/WP00674

Chart and table of South Korea population density from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

In 2023, Songpa-gu had the largest population among the 25 districts in Seoul, South Korea, with around 630.7 thousand inhabitants. That year, the total population of Seoul stood at about 9.4 million.

Chart and table of North Korea population density from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

Republic of Korea population density for 400m H3 hexagons.

Built from Kontur Population: Global Population Density for 400m H3 Hexagons Vector H3 hexagons with population counts at 400m resolution.

Fixed up fusion of GHSL, Facebook, Microsoft Buildings, Copernicus Global Land Service Land Cover, Land Information New Zealand, and OpenStreetMap data.

The world's most accurate population datasets. Seven maps/datasets for the distribution of various populations in South Korea: (1) Overall population density (2) Women (3) Men (4) Children (ages 0-5) (5) Youth (ages 15-24) (6) Elderly (ages 60+) (7) Women of reproductive age (ages 15-49).

Democratic People's Republic of Korea population density for 400m H3 hexagons.

Built from Kontur Population: Global Population Density for 400m H3 Hexagons Vector H3 hexagons with population counts at 400m resolution.

Fixed up fusion of GHSL, Facebook, Microsoft Buildings, Copernicus Global Land Service Land Cover, Land Information New Zealand, and OpenStreetMap data.

North Korea KP: Population Density: People per Square Km data was reported at 211.701 Person/sq km in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 210.685 Person/sq km for 2016. North Korea KP: Population Density: People per Square Km data is updated yearly, averaging 166.047 Person/sq km from Dec 1961 (Median) to 2017, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 211.701 Person/sq km in 2017 and a record low of 96.882 Person/sq km in 1961. North Korea KP: Population Density: People per Square Km data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s North Korea – Table KP.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population density is midyear population divided by land area in square kilometers. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship--except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin. Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes.; ; Food and Agriculture Organization and World Bank population estimates.; Weighted average;

Census data reveals that population density varies noticeably from area to area. Small area census data do a better job depicting where the crowded neighborhoods are. In this map, the yellow areas of highest density range from 30,000 to 150,000 persons per square kilometer. In those areas, if the people were spread out evenly across the area, there would be just 4 to 9 meters between them. Very high density areas exceed 7,000 persons per square kilometer. High density areas exceed 5,200 persons per square kilometer. The last categories break at 3,330 persons per square kilometer, and 1,500 persons per square kilometer.This dataset is comprised of multiple sources. All of the demographic data are from Michael Bauer Research with the exception of the following countries:Australia: Esri Australia and MapData ServicesCanada: Esri Canada and EnvironicsFrance: Esri FranceGermany: Esri Germany and NexigaIndia: Esri India and IndicusJapan: Esri JapanSouth Korea: Esri Korea and OPENmateSpain: Esri España and AISUnited States: Esri Demographics

In 2023, the population density in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, reached around 15,506 inhabitants per square kilometer. In 2015, the population density peaked at about 16,364 inhabitants per square kilometer and started to gradually decrease in the following years.

In 2023, the population density in Busan, South Korea was around 4,252 inhabitants per square kilometer. The population density of Busan has been continuously decreasing.

Census data reveals that population density varies noticeably from area to area. Small area census data do a better job depicting where the crowded neighborhoods are. In this map, the yellow areas of highest density range from 30,000 to 150,000 persons per square kilometer. In those areas, if the people were spread out evenly across the area, there would be just 4 to 9 meters between them. Very high density areas exceed 7,000 persons per square kilometer. High density areas exceed 5,200 persons per square kilometer. The last categories break at 3,330 persons per square kilometer, and 1,500 persons per square kilometer.This dataset is comprised of multiple sources. All of the demographic data are from Michael Bauer Research with the exception of the following countries:Australia: Esri Australia and MapData ServicesCanada: Esri Canada and EnvironicsFrance: Esri FranceGermany: Esri Germany and NexigaIndia: Esri India and IndicusJapan: Esri JapanSouth Korea: Esri Korea and OPENmateSpain: Esri España and AISUnited States: Esri Demographics

In 2024, the population of South Korea was estimated to be about 51.75 million. The population of North Korea was approximately 25.87 million, which is roughly half the population of South Korea. Economic comparison between South and North Korea Following the Korean War (1950-1953), South Korea and North Korea pursued vastly different trajectories, not only politically but also economically. South Korea embraced capitalism and free market principles, which fueled its rapid economic growth and transformed it into one of the world's leading economies. In contrast, North Korea adopted a state-controlled, centrally planned economy, leading to isolation and economic stagnation. While South Korea's gross domestic product (GDP) reached around 2,401 trillion South Korean won in 2023, only about 40 trillion won was recorded for North Korea. Food crisis in North Korea North Korea has faced food insecurity for a long time, and this has been exacerbated in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was estimated that the country had a food shortage of around 860,000 metric tons in 2023. Although the North Korean government maintains a centrally planned economic system, food distribution has long been a problem, as an increasing number of North Korean defectors have reported that they have never received food from North Korean authorities.

A governmental survey in 2023 found that the internet usage rate among South Koreans aged 3 years and older was at around 94 percent. Internet usage is defined as people who have used the internet within the previous month. A connected societyAround 18.6 percent of surveyed internet users were using the internet for more than 35 hours per week. The survey also found that close to 92 percent of children aged between 3 and 9 years old were using the internet. The high status of the internet is hardly surprising in a society that has a reputation for being tech-savvy. High availability, fast speedsAccording to the government, South Korea had around 47.75 million internet users in 2023. The high number of internet users is a result of governmental regulations that caused a fast extension of the internet in the country. Another reason for the fast extension is that it was relatively easy to make the internet available for many citizens due to the high population density, especially in urban areas. Today, South Korea is known for having one of the fastest internet speeds around the globe, especially when it comes to mobile internet.

In 2023, the population of Gyeonggi Province in South Korea stood at around 13.8 million. Seoul followed with about 9.38 million inhabitants. The total population of South Korea stood at around 51.8 million inhabitants that year.