The map presents the geographic distribution of Koreans living overseas according to data collected by Korean diplomatic missions. They are divided into two categories: Korean nationals who have Korean citizenship and foreign nationals who have foreign citizenship. The Korean nationals are further categorized as permanent residents, international students, and sojourners. The number of Koreans living overseas increased sharply in 1991 because the government started to count the Korean-Chinese population for the first time. A gradual increase appears after 1991. Currently, the number of Koreans overseas is close to 7.5 million; of that, 1.1 million are permanent residents, 1.4 million are sojourners, 0.3 million are international students, and 4.8 million are foreign nationals.

 

 The number and distribution of Koreans living abroad have changed over time. Until the 1970s, the largest number of overseas Koreans lived in Japan. Since the 1970s, the number of overseas Koreans has increased the most in the United States as a result of both immigration and an increase in the number of descendants of immigrants. In the 1990s, after establishing diplomatic ties with China, ethnic Koreans in China were included in the statistics of compatriots. In the 2000s, ethnic Koreans in the former Soviet Union were included in the statistics of compatriots. Since the mid-2000s, the number of overseas Koreans living in Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand has increased rapidly. Meanwhile, from 1962 to 2020, 1.19 million domestic Koreans emigrated. By country, the largest number went to the United States (840,000 people), Canada (130,000 people), Australia (40,000 people), and New Zealand (30,000 people). The number of overseas migrants has declined sharply since the mid-2010s.