Daegu has 40,024 registered foreign residents, 1.7% of its resident-registration population of 2,353,032. That is below the national average of 3.14% and ranks 16th among the seventeen provinces. 2.49% of all registered foreign residents in Korea live here. The share has risen from 1.05% in 2015 to 1.7%, a change of about 61.9%. 138 nationalities are counted, and the three largest are Vietnam (30.8%), China (10.2%), Indonesia (5.3%). The nationality diversity index H is 2.535, 9th among the seventeen. By continent of origin the index is 0.087, 15th. Language demand estimated from nationality composition covers 45 languages and 32,180 people, the largest three being Vietnamese (32.7%), Chinese (14.4%), English (5.4%).
On the Ministry of the Interior and Safety count, foreign residents numbered 61,554 in 2024, 2.6% of the resident-registration population of 2,363,629. By type the largest are Other foreign residents (16,982), Migrant workers (9,897), International students (8,709). Children of foreign residents number 10,461. The settlement rate is 26.4% and the settlement type is classified as University. Of the 40,024 people whose visa status is recorded, the largest categories are Non-professional Employment (E9) 18.6%, Student (D2) 17.8%, Marriage Migration (F6) 13.5%. Across 9 districts the largest count is in Dalseo-gu (13,795, 34.47% of the province) and the highest share of population is in Dalseong-gun (3.17%). This province holds 30 organizations serving immigrants, 7.5 per 10,000 registered foreign residents against 7.1 nationally.
Source: Ministry of Justice immigration statistics yearbook, Ministry of the Interior and Safety local foreign resident statistics and resident registration statistics. Diversity indices and language demand are calculated from the public dataset; support organizations are this site's own list.
| Indicators | Daegu | Daegu | National | Vs national |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered foreigners | 40,024 | 0 | 1,604,920 | National total: 2.5% |
| Foreign share | 1.70 | - | 3.14 | 0.54× |
| Shannon diversity (H) | 2.535 | - | 2.607 | 0.97× |
| Nationalities | 138 | - | - | - |
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by district), MOIS Resident Registration Population Statistics.
Note: H is the Shannon diversity index. The number of nationalities is counted from the district-by-nationality table in all three columns: the province value is the union over that province's districts and the national value is the union over the 250 districts. The yearbook began listing every nationality at the district level in 2014, so counts before that year are cut to the top 19 plus other. The national value is the sum of the 250 districts and equals the yearbook's national total.
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook each year.
| Year | Daegu | Daegu | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 0.80 | 1.72 | |
| 2012 | 0.87 | 1.83 | |
| 2016 | 1.07 | 2.25 | |
| 2020 | 1.15 | 2.21 | |
| 2025 | 1.70 | 3.14 |
Source: MOIS Resident Registration Population Statistics each year.
Note: this is the denominator behind the share in Figure 1. It counts Korean residents on the resident registration and does not include registered foreigners.
| Year | Resident population | Index | Registered foreigners | Foreign share |
|---|
| Nationality | Registered foreigners | Daegu Share | Daegu | National | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnam | 12,312 | 30.8 | 30.8 | 18.3 | |
| China | 4,095 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 14.1 | |
| Indonesia | 2,126 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 3.9 | |
| Uzbekistan | 1,751 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.3 | |
| Philippines | 1,749 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 3.4 | |
| United States | 1,738 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 2.3 | |
| Sri Lanka | 1,505 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 2.3 | |
| Mongolia | 1,470 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 2.6 | |
| Korean-Chinese | 1,448 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 15.6 | |
| Cambodia | 1,301 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 4.1 | |
| Myanmar | 1,284 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.6 | |
| Nepal | 1,239 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 5.6 |
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by district and nationality).
Note: Korean-Chinese and China together come to 59.6%. Daegu and the national columns give the share of that nationality among registered foreigners in each area.
| Rank | Language | Estimated count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vietnamese | 10,529 | 32.7 | |
| 2 | Chinese | 4,643 | 14.4 | |
| 3 | English | 1,729 | 5.4 | |
| 4 | Tagalog/Filipino | 1,532 | 4.8 | |
| 5 | Indonesian | 1,482 | 4.6 | |
| 6 | Khmer | 1,425 | 4.4 | |
| 7 | Uzbek | 1,315 | 4.1 | |
| 8 | Mongolian | 1,277 | 4.0 | |
| 9 | Sinhala | 1,028 | 3.2 | |
| 10 | Russian | 849 | 2.6 | |
| 11 | Burmese | 810 | 2.5 | |
| 12 | Thai | 804 | 2.5 |
Source: An estimate that applies the first-language shares of Ethnologue first-language shares, with Korean excluded.
Note: Only the top 20 languages are calculated for this district, so the shares are shares within those 20.
| Visa category | Registered foreigners | Daegu Share | National | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-professional Employment(E9) | 7,450 | 18.6 | 21.0 | |
| Student(D2) | 7,110 | 17.8 | 13.7 | |
| Marriage Migration(F6) | 5,413 | 13.5 | 9.5 | |
| General Trainee(D4) | 4,618 | 11.5 | 5.3 | |
| Permanent Residence(F5) | 2,546 | 6.4 | 13.8 | |
| Visiting Cohabitation(F1) | 2,326 | 5.8 | 4.6 | |
| Dependent Family(F3) | 1,779 | 4.4 | 4.6 | |
| Specially Designated Activities(E7) | 1,752 | 4.4 | 5.1 | |
| Other statuses(ETC) | 1,522 | 3.8 | 2.1 | |
| Other(G1) | 1,481 | 3.7 | 3.8 | |
| Residential(F2) | 1,123 | 2.8 | 4.2 | |
| Job Seeker(D10) | 1,009 | 2.5 | 1.4 |
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by status of stay and district).
Note: The national column is the share the same status holds among registered foreigners nationwide in that year. Status is known for all 40,024 registered foreigners.
| Type | Persons | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other foreign residents | 16,982 | 27.6 | |
| Migrant workers | 9,897 | 16.1 | |
| International students | 8,709 | 14.1 | |
| Marriage migrants | 5,838 | 9.5 | |
| Ethnic Koreans with foreign nationality | 3,869 | 6.3 |
Source: MOIS Status of Foreign Residents in Local Governments 2024.
Note: Only this table follows the MOIS count, which totals 61,554, and it covers a different population from the 36,710 registered foreigners MOJ counted the same year. Adding the two counts the same people twice.
Source: MOIS Status of Foreign Residents in Local Governments each year.
Note: The share of each type among foreign residents in this district in that year. Table 5 gives counts for a single year and this figure gives the composition year by year. Values can break in years when district boundaries changed. Types are set by dividing the work, study, and marriage shares among foreign residents without Korean nationality by the national benchmark (38%, 16%, 15%).
| Year | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 0.0 | 39.2 | 0.0 | 11.8 | 0.0 |
| 2009 | 0.0 | 40.2 | 0.0 | 12.0 | 0.0 |
| 2010 | 0.0 | 37.4 | 0.0 | 12.3 | 0.0 |
| 2011 | 0.0 | 36.0 | 0.0 | 11.3 | 0.0 |
| 2012 | 0.0 | 36.1 | 0.0 | 9.8 | 0.0 |
| 2013 | 0.0 | 32.7 | 0.0 | 9.4 | 0.0 |
| 2014 | 0.0 | 32.4 | 0.0 | 8.8 | 0.0 |
| 2015 | 0.0 | 32.8 | 0.0 | 8.4 | 0.0 |
| 2016 | 0.0 | 27.8 | 0.0 | 7.1 | 0.0 |
| 2017 | 0.0 | 24.0 | 0.0 | 7.6 | 0.0 |
| 2018 | 0.0 | 20.7 | 0.0 | 9.0 | 0.0 |
| 2019 | 0.0 | 17.6 | 0.0 | 11.2 | 0.0 |
| 2020 | 0.0 | 15.8 | 0.0 | 12.0 | 0.0 |
| 2021 | 0.0 | 14.2 | 0.0 | 13.6 | 0.0 |
| 2022 | 0.0 | 13.9 | 0.0 | 14.1 | 0.0 |
| 2023 | 0.0 | 15.3 | 0.0 | 13.0 | 0.0 |
| 2024 | 0.0 | 16.1 | 0.0 | 14.1 | 0.0 |
| Indicators | This district | Daegu Average | National | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.535 | - | 2.607 | 9 / 17 | |
| 0.846 | - | 0.87 | 9 / 17 | |
| 0.13 | - | 0.099 | 8 / 17 | |
| 0.087 | - | 0.123 | 15 / 17 | |
| 1.7 | - | 3.14 | 16 / 17 | |
| 0.127 | - | 0.216 | 16 / 17 |
Source: Open dataset, indicators calculated from it.
Note: Shannon diversity (H) measures how evenly nationalities are mixed, and a higher value means several nationalities of similar size. HHI moves the other way and rises as one or two nationalities dominate. Evenness rescales H to a range of 0 to 1. The rank is the position among the 250 districts ordered from the largest. The province column treats the whole province as one unit. It differs from the mean of the district values.
Source: Open dataset, indicators calculated from it.
Note: This district, its province, and the national value share one axis. The province and national values are for the same year. Values can break in years when district boundaries changed.
| Year | Daegu | Daegu | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 1.985 | - | 1.715 |
| 2009 | 2.469 | - | 2.136 |
| 2010 | 2.514 | - | 2.173 |
| 2011 | 2.533 | - | 2.181 |
| 2012 | 2.541 | - | 2.286 |
| 2013 | 2.558 | - | 2.322 |
| 2014 | 2.568 | - | 2.31 |
| 2015 | 2.578 | - | 2.325 |
| 2016 | 2.582 | - | 2.381 |
| 2017 | 2.575 | - | 2.421 |
| 2018 | 2.56 | - | 2.42 |
| 2019 | 2.515 | - | 2.445 |
| 2020 | 2.479 | - | 2.464 |
| 2021 | 2.475 | - | 2.491 |
| 2022 | 2.484 | - | 2.552 |
| 2023 | 2.545 | - | 2.586 |
| 2024 | 2.551 | - | 2.604 |
| 2025 | 2.535 | - | 2.607 |
| Continent | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| Southeast Asia | 49.5 | |
| East Asia | 20.6 | |
| South Asia | 12.8 | |
| Central Asia | 6.4 | |
| North America | 4.7 | |
| Europe | 2.9 | |
| Africa | 2.2 | |
| Latin America | 0.5 | |
| West Asia | 0.5 | |
| Oceania | 0.1 | |
| Other | 0.0 |
Source: Open dataset, indicators calculated from it.
Note: One nationality holds 30% or more of the foreigners in this district. Vietnam 30.8%, location quotient 1.7. The nationalities counted number 138.
| District | Registered foreigners | Share of population |
|---|
Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook and Resident Registration Population Statistics. Select a district to open its report.
| Year | Multicultural | All marriages | Daegu Share | Daegu | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 733 | 12,709 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 8.0 |
| 2015 | 747 | 12,725 | 5.9 | 5.9 | 7.4 |
| 2016 | 780 | 12,362 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 7.7 |
| 2017 | 743 | 11,581 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 8.3 |
| 2018 | 883 | 11,163 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 9.2 |
| 2019 | 930 | 10,069 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 10.3 |
| 2020 | 506 | 8,455 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 7.6 |
| 2021 | 474 | 7,402 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 7.2 |
| 2022 | 600 | 7,621 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 9.1 |
| 2023 | 694 | 8,306 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 10.6 |
| 2024 | 732 | 9,432 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 9.6 |
Source: Statistics Korea, Vital Statistics of Multicultural Families.
Note: a marriage counts as multicultural when one spouse is a foreign national or a naturalized Korean. Statistics Korea does not split the wards of a large city, so a ward carries the value for the city named in the column header.
| Indicators | Daegu | Daegu | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average wage, 2023 | 3,934 | 3,934 | 4,344 |
| Share aged 65 and over, 2024 | 20.9 | 20.9 | 20.0 |
| Fiscal independence, 2024 | 44.3 | 44.3 | 43.3 |
| Jobs per 1,000 residents, 2024 | 432 | 432 | 501 |
| Share of jobs in manufacturing, 2024 | 15.6 | 15.6 | 16.2 |
Source: NTS National Tax Statistics, year-end wage settlement by district; Statistics Korea e-Local Indicators (share aged 65 and over, fiscal independence, jobs per 1,000 residents, manufacturing jobs).
Note: neither agency splits the wards of a large city, so a ward carries the value for the city named in the column header.
| Scope | Organizations | or, per 10,000 registered foreigners, |
|---|---|---|
| Daegu | 30 | 7.5 |
| National | 1,134 | 7.1 |
Source: List of immigrant support organizations compiled by this site.
Note: a count of organizations is not a measure of how much service is provided, and the size and scope of each organization are not in this list.
Source: List of immigrant support organizations compiled by this site.
Note: Only organizations with an address in this district that serve people directly, that have not closed or gone dormant, and that have a website or social media account confirmed as their own are listed. An organization missing any one of the four does not appear, so one you know of may be absent. The table above counts only the categories used for the density figure, so the two numbers can differ.