Has the population peaked? in South Korea

South Korea: Has the population peaked? was 51.75 million people in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
51.75 million people
Change on year
down 0.1%
World rank
29th
of 236 countries
All-time high
51.86 million people
in 2020
All-time low
19.76 million people
in 1950
Years of data
74
1950–2023

Has the population peaked? in South Korea, 1950–2023

020.0M40.0M60.0M195019862023

Source: UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in people.

Analysis

In 2023, has the population peaked? in South Korea stood at 51.75 million people.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.1% on the previous year and up 3.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, has the population peaked? in South Korea peaked at 51.86 million people in 2020 and was at its lowest, 19.76 million people, in 1950.

That places South Korea 29th out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 74 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 22.05 million people 19.76 million people 25.30 million people 10
1960s 29.00 million people 26.12 million people 31.85 million people 10
1970s 35.37 million people 32.54 million people 37.71 million people 10
1980s 40.84 million people 38.14 million people 43.52 million people 10
1990s 45.29 million people 44.08 million people 46.50 million people 10
2000s 47.73 million people 46.77 million people 48.55 million people 10
2010s 50.53 million people 48.77 million people 51.77 million people 10
2020s 51.81 million people 51.75 million people 51.86 million people 4

Countries ranked near South Korea

  1. 26 Kenya 55.34 million people compare
  2. 27 Myanmar 54.13 million people compare
  3. 28 Colombia 52.32 million people compare
  4. 30 Sudan 50.04 million people compare
  5. 31 Uganda 48.66 million people compare
  6. 32 Spain 47.91 million people compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More population data for South Korea

All data for South Korea →

Frequently asked questions

What is has the population peaked? in South Korea?
Has the population peaked? in South Korea was 51.75 million people in 2023, according to UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest has the population peaked? recorded in South Korea?
The highest recorded value was 51.86 million people in 2020.
What is the lowest has the population peaked? recorded in South Korea?
The lowest recorded value was 19.76 million people in 1950.
How does South Korea rank for has the population peaked??
South Korea ranks 29th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is has the population peaked? rising or falling in South Korea?
Over the last ten years it is up 3.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this South Korea data come from?
The figures come from UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Has the population peaked?. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 74 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Has the population peaked?
Unit
people
Source
UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 17,464 data points, 1950–2023
Last refreshed

The total population, measured on 1 July of the year shown.