Which country saw a 4,000% increase in foreign residents? Survey reveals surprising answer
A new report has found the small, but dense nation where international expats are flocking to in extraordinarily high demand.
The country, which has seen a nearly 4,000% increase in foreign residents over the past three decades, isn’t a usual suspect Europe like Spain or England either.
It is South Korea, where a population of 52 million just welcomed nearly 2 million outsiders this year, the Express reported of data from insurance company William Russell.
The nation in the shadow of Kim Jong Un’s North Korean regime hosted the Olympics in Pyeongchang in 2018 and is also internationally known for viral K-pop music like Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” and TV shows such as “Squid Game.”
South Korea is also appreciated for exotic potato chips and aforementioned Korean barbeque, cook-as-you-go style meals — a byproduct of American soldiers’ influence in the country during the Korean War era about seven decades ago.
While the Asian Peninsula is experiencing an explosion of outsiders, domestically, birth rates have sunk to their lowest level since 1984.
The nation is experiencing what the Korean Times called a “population crisis” in a recent article on calls to create a ministry to manage volumes of immigration. Nearby, almost 6,000 Russians sought asylum in South Korea in 2023, CNN reported.
One United Kingdom man who recently moved to Cheongju to teach English lauded South Korea’s low costs of living.
Emotionally, however, one Reddit user said finding love beneath the 38th parallel has been the toughest part of their journey.
“I’ve been here 8 years, no prior knowledge of Korean culture or Korean language. Finding a job was fine, finding a house was fine, opening a bank was fine, getting a phone was fine, learning Korean was fine, surviving in the countryside totally fine,” they commented on a thread.
“Literally, the only consistent problem I have is dating. In 8 years, I’ve been on 3 dates, and all of them ghosted me after the date.”
After South Korea, Colombia saw the largest percent increase in the past 30 years from 104,277 to 1,905,393.
Chile followed with a 1,430.23% change, followed by Bulgaria at 757.10%, and Spain in fifth with 732.78%.
