According to Yonhap, South Korea's population rose slightly in 2025 from a year earlier as immigration increased, while the share of foreigners climbed to a record high. The total population reached 51.82 million, up 0.02% from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, while the number of South Korean nationals fell 0.1% to 49.71 million and foreigners rose 3.2% to 2.11 million, or 4.1% of the total.

The median age increased to 46.8, up 5.7 years from 2015, and people aged 65 and older made up 20.7% of the population. The working-age population, ages 15 to 64, stood at 35.87 million, or 69.2% of the total. South Korea had 23.25 million households in 2025, up 1.1% from a year earlier, with average household size slipping to 2.16 from 2015. The number of single-person households reached 8.24 million, or 36.6% of the total, while households with four or more members accounted for 15.2%.