Most foreign workers in South Korea earn under 3 million

About 1.7 million foreigners live in South Korea, and half of the country’s foreign wage workers earn between 2 million and 3 million won per month.

According to the “2025 Survey on Immigrant Residence and Employment” released on March 10 by the National Data Office and the Ministry of Justice, 1,692,000 foreigners aged 15 and older resided in South Korea as of May last year. Of these, 65.5% were employed.

Monthly wages for foreign workers were most commonly in the 2–3 million won range, accounting for 50.2% of respondents. Another 36.9% earned more than 3 million won, 9% earned between 1 million and 2 million won, and 3.8% earned less than 1 million won. The share of foreign workers earning more than 3 million won per month has more than doubled over the past five years, rising from 16.4% to 36.9%.

Despite these earnings, 12.9% of foreign residents reported experiencing economic difficulties over the past year. Among them, 36.2% said they avoided medical treatment because hospital costs were too high, while 29.4% said they were unable to pay utility bills on time.

Foreign workers were employed predominantly in mining and manufacturing, which accounted for 44.9% of respondents. Other sectors included wholesale and retail, lodging, and restaurants at 20.4%, business, personal, and public services at 13.4%, and construction at 9.6%. Weekly working hours were 40–50 hours for 58.1% of workers, 50–60 hours for 17.8%, and more than 60 hours for 8.7%.

By visa type, overseas Koreans made up the largest group with 410,000 people, or 24.2% of foreign residents. Non-professional employment visa holders numbered 321,000 (19%), and international students 236,000 (14%). Notably, the number of foreign residents on E-9 non-professional employment visas, introduced to address domestic labor shortages, exceeded 300,000 for the first time.

By nationality, South Korean-Chinese accounted for 29.9%, Vietnamese 16%, and Chinese 8.1%. Asian nationals dominated regionally at 91.4%. In terms of residence, 57.5% of foreigners lived in the Seoul metropolitan area.


송유근 big@donga.com