South Korea Urban Population 1960-2024

Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.
  • South Korea urban population for 2022 was 42,039,227, a 0.21% decline from 2021.
  • South Korea urban population for 2021 was 42,127,573, a 0.18% decline from 2020.
  • South Korea urban population for 2020 was 42,201,956, a 0.12% increase from 2019.
  • South Korea urban population for 2019 was 42,152,095, a 0.31% increase from 2018.
Data Source: World Bank

MLA Citation:
Similar Country Ranking
Country Name Urban Population
United States 276,908,634
Japan 115,058,684
Germany 65,286,292
United Kingdom 56,522,531
France 55,373,677
Argentina 42,696,478
Italy 42,175,051
South Korea 42,039,227
Spain 38,712,927
Canada 31,825,973
Saudi Arabia 30,848,829
Poland 22,587,292
Australia 22,468,661
Chile 17,234,034
Netherlands 16,443,692
Belgium 11,453,911
Sweden 9,280,104
Israel 8,859,423
Greece 8,490,947
UAE 8,265,048
Czech Republic 7,828,977
Hong Kong 7,346,100
Hungary 7,025,577
Portugal 6,993,479
Switzerland 6,497,677
Singapore 5,637,022
Austria 5,358,240
Denmark 5,216,337
Finland 4,761,190
Norway 4,565,651
New Zealand 4,452,023
Kuwait 4,268,873
Oman 4,015,701
Uruguay 3,275,203
Ireland 3,264,982
Panama 3,048,137
Puerto Rico 3,015,917
Slovak Republic 2,928,203
Qatar 2,676,741
Croatia 2,243,760
Lithuania 1,939,613
Bahrain 1,321,226
Latvia 1,290,868
Slovenia 1,175,639
Estonia 936,080
Cyprus 837,383
Trinidad and Tobago 816,659
Macao 695,168
Luxembourg 597,938
Malta 496,592
Iceland 358,955
Brunei 354,056
Bahamas 342,304
New Caledonia 200,181
French Polynesia 190,414
Guam 163,342
Curacao 133,534
Virgin Islands (U.S.) 101,340
Barbados 88,219
Andorra 70,094
Cayman Islands 68,706
Bermuda 63,532
Seychelles 58,431
Channel Islands 54,099
Greenland 49,707
Aruba 46,891
Northern Mariana Islands 45,578
Isle of Man 45,024
Sint Maarten (Dutch part) 43,389
Turks and Caicos Islands 42,982
Monaco 36,469
San Marino 32,897
Gibraltar 32,649
Antigua and Barbuda 22,828
Faroe Islands 22,711
British Virgin Islands 15,443
Palau 14,797
St. Kitts and Nevis 14,769
Liechtenstein 5,717
South Korea Urban Population - Historical Data
Year Population % of Total Change
2022 42,039,227 81.43 -0.21%
2021 42,127,573 81.41 -0.18%
2020 42,201,956 81.41 0.12%
2019 42,152,095 81.43 0.31%
2018 42,020,672 81.46 0.38%
2017 41,861,498 81.50 0.21%
2016 41,774,264 81.56 0.31%
2015 41,645,542 81.63 0.44%
2014 41,463,573 81.71 0.54%
2013 41,240,244 81.78 0.37%
2012 41,089,082 81.85 0.44%
2011 40,909,592 81.92 0.75%
2010 40,602,657 81.94 0.62%
2009 40,351,067 81.84 0.64%
2008 40,093,884 81.73 0.88%
2007 39,740,941 81.63 0.63%
2006 39,490,771 81.53 0.75%
2005 39,195,731 81.35 0.63%
2004 38,947,802 81.00 0.83%
2003 38,626,122 80.65 0.96%
2002 38,258,247 80.30 1.03%
2001 37,867,709 79.94 1.17%
2000 37,428,328 79.62 1.13%
1999 37,006,183 79.38 1.01%
1998 36,633,453 79.15 1.03%
1997 36,259,672 78.91 1.25%
1996 35,810,625 78.66 1.49%
1995 35,280,305 78.24 2.02%
1994 34,575,766 77.45 2.05%
1993 33,872,973 76.65 2.10%
1992 33,169,705 75.82 2.16%
1991 32,459,655 74.97 2.51%
1990 31,656,393 73.84 3.31%
1989 30,626,132 72.15 3.46%
1988 29,585,374 70.39 3.61%
1987 28,537,079 68.56 3.77%
1986 27,480,866 66.68 3.74%
1985 26,473,134 64.88 3.44%
1984 25,577,374 63.30 3.81%
1983 24,621,925 61.69 4.16%
1982 23,619,800 60.06 4.34%
1981 22,617,087 58.41 4.49%
1980 21,623,805 56.72 4.67%
1979 20,636,698 54.98 4.75%
1978 19,679,806 53.23 4.88%
1977 18,743,336 51.48 5.03%
1976 17,823,527 49.72 5.05%
1975 16,946,391 48.03 4.76%
1974 16,159,311 46.58 4.87%
1973 15,391,092 45.13 5.01%
1972 14,639,182 43.69 5.21%
1971 13,896,560 42.26 5.73%
1970 13,123,306 40.70 7.09%
1969 12,225,296 38.76 7.32%
1968 11,362,681 36.85 7.54%
1967 10,537,106 34.97 7.09%
1966 9,815,880 33.35 5.55%
1965 9,286,249 32.35 5.62%
1964 8,779,189 31.37 5.74%
1963 8,289,479 30.41 5.95%
1962 7,811,004 29.46 6.07%
1961 7,351,204 28.53 5.89%
1960 6,930,929 27.71 %