KIRD Immigrant statistics in Korea 한국어

Estimated first languages are counted across 1,361 languages.

Vietnamese

Registered foreigners estimated to speak Vietnamese as a first language number 251,593, which is 18.67% of all language demand and the largest. It is among the top 20 languages in 250 districts, and the largest counts are Gyeongsan-si (6,456), Hwaseong-si (6,098), Gimhae-si (5,446). Of this demand, 99.7% of this demand comes from Vietnamese nationality, and the nationalities counted number 11 in all. This figure is an estimate calculated by applying Ethnologue mother-tongue shares to the nationality composition of registered foreigners; Korean is excluded.

Source: Open dataset, MOJ Statistical Yearbook on Immigration and Foreign Policy.

Note: The first-language shares come from Ethnologue.

Table 1.Top 20 languages by first-language demand, 2025Unit: persons, %, districts
RankLanguageEstimated countShare

Source: Open dataset.

Note: An estimate from applying Ethnologue first-language shares to the nationality composition of registered foreigners. Korean is not counted.

Figure 1.Vietnamese estimated demand over time, 2006–2025Unit: 10,000 persons

Source: Open dataset.

Note: The nationality composition changes each year, so this line follows the movement of those nationality populations.

View as table
YearEstimated countShare of all language demandRank
Table 2.Vietnamese demand by nationality, 2025Unit: persons, %
RankNationalityEstimated countShare of this language's demand

Source: Open dataset, MOJ Statistical Yearbook on Immigration and Foreign Policy.

Note: The figure multiplies registered foreigners of that nationality by the Ethnologue first-language shares, so one nationality is split across several languages.

Figure 2.Vietnamese demand, top 12 districts, 2025Unit: persons

Source: Open dataset.

Note: Vietnamese is among the top 20 languages in 250 districts.

View as table
RankDistrictProvinceEstimated count
1Gyeongsan-siGyeongsangbuk-do6,456
2Hwaseong-siGyeonggi-do6,098
3Gimhae-siGyeongsangnam-do5,446
4Dalseo-guDaegu4,942
5Siheung-siGyeonggi-do4,922
6Cheonan-si Seobuk-guChungcheongnam-do4,815
7Gwangsan-guGwangju3,975
8Geoje-siGyeongsangnam-do3,503
9Dongdaemun-guSeoul3,282
10Pyeongtaek-siGyeonggi-do3,077
11Gyeongju-siGyeongsangbuk-do2,940
12Yuseong-guDaejeon2,842
Table 3.By province, Vietnamese estimated demand, 2025Unit: persons, %
RankProvinceEstimated countShare of this language's demand

Source: Open dataset.

Note: Only the top 20 languages are counted in each district, so for languages further down the list the province totals can be smaller than the true figure.

Estimation method

The number of registered foreigners of each nationality multiplied by that nationality's mother-tongue shares, then summed. The shares come from Ethnologue. These are not counts of interpretation actually requested, and cases where one person uses two languages or uses Korean cannot be separated out.

District values cover only the top 20 languages in each district, so lower-ranked languages among the 1,361 languages nationwide have empty district columns.