KIRD Immigrant statistics in Korea 한국어

Statuses of stay number 29, and the groups that hold them number 6.

Non-professional Employment

The status code is E9, and it covers non-professional manual work, that is, manufacturing, construction, agriculture and fisheries, and services (Employment Permit System).

Table 1.Key indicators and benchmarks, 2025Unit: persons, places, %
IndicatorsNon-professional EmploymentAll registered foreignersShare of total

Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by status of stay, registered foreigners by status of stay and district)

Non-professional Employment is the largest status within the E group.

Table 2.Registered foreigners by status family, 2025Unit: persons, %
FamilyPersonsShare

Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by status of stay)

The 6 groups sum to 1,604,725, the same as all registered foreigners.

Each group is the sum of the statuses inside it, so adding a group together with an individual status counts the same person twice.

The jade bar is the E group, which contains Non-professional Employment.

Figure 1.Non-professional Employment and all of the E group, 2006–2025Unit: 10,000 persons

Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook, each year

Putting the status and the group on one axis shows the share Non-professional Employment takes within the E group.

View as table
YearNon-professional Employmentall of the E groupShare of family
Table 3.By nationality Non-professional Employment top 10 countries, 2025Unit: persons, %
RankNationalityPersonsWithin Non-professional EmploymentWithin nationality

Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by status of stay and nationality)

The within-nationality column is the share Non-professional Employment holds among registered foreigners of that country.

Table 4.Non-professional Employment top 10 districts, 2025Unit: persons, %
RankDistrictNon-professional EmploymentShare of local foreigners

Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by status of stay and district)

In the district file, Non-professional Employment comes to 334,921, below the national 336,713 by 1,792

Table 5.Composition of statuses within the E group, 2025Unit: persons, %
StatusPersonsWithin group

Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook on Immigration and Foreign Policy (registered foreigners by status of stay)

The jade bar is the selected status.

Selecting a status outside the groups shows that status alone.

Figure 2.By province, Non-professional Employment, 2025Unit: persons

Count range

    Note: The boundaries are shapes simplified for display and are drawn as pen lines. The fill values are the provincial totals from the yearbook and do not depend on the shapes.

    Source: MOJ Statistical Yearbook (registered foreigners by district and status of stay), summed to the province level.

    The map shades the 17 provinces, and the same values are also held for the 250 districts.

    View as table
    ProvinceNon-professional EmploymentShare of national