Foreign students take part in a hands-on “hanbok” festival, where they had a chance to try on Korea’s traditional costume, in downtown Seoul. (Yonhap)



SEJONG -- The number of foreign residents in South Korea has risen dramatically over the past few decades, during which the nation hosted major international sports festivals including the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics and the 2002 FIFA World Cup, data showed.



But the data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed that Korea has far fewer foreign residents in proportion to its population, compared with other member countries.



The OECD defines a foreign national as someone who still holds foreign nationality, whether or not they were born in the host country.



According to a comparison of 33 of the 36 OECD members, the average percentage of foreign residents came to 8.8 percent as of 2018 (or whenever the latest available data was posted for specific nations). Australia, Israel and New Zealand were not included in the research.



Korea ranked 26th among the 33 with only 2.2 percent of its population consisting of foreigners -- about 1.1 million people. The figure appears to have excluded short-term visitors and short-term migrant workers, given that the Justice Ministry of Korea said the total number of foreigners in Korea surpassed 2 million in 2016 and hovered near 2.5 million in 2019.



In any case, the figure for Korea fell far below those seen in most Western countries.



Luxembourg, which borders three countries, topped the list with 48.8 percent, followed by Switzerland, which is surrounded by five neighboring countries, with 24 percent.



(Graphic by Kim Sun-young/The Korea Herald)