Here, are the numbers, with a few more added from other sources:
1980 - 40,519*
1990 - 100,000**
1995 - 269,000**
1997 - 386,972
1998 - 308,339
1999 - 381,116
2000 - 491,324
2001 - 566,835
2002 - 629,006
2003 - 678,687
2004 - 750,873
2005 - 747,476
2006 - 910,149
2007 - 1,066,273
2008 - 1,158,866
2009 - 1,168,477
2010 - 1,261,415
2011 - 1,395,077
2012 - 1,445,103
(*From here. It's said to be only residents (not tourists) and I would guess the figure includes USFK. Korea did not open diplomatic relations with China (from where half of Korea's foreign residents hail from today) until 1992.)
(**From here)
The second-most recent figure, from 2009, comes from here (download the zip file to get excel files - you may night to rename the file to "_.zip."). 2008 stats can be found here (scroll down and wait until the download button appears at bottom left).
While I was looking into this, I decided to dig up E-2 visa statistics as well:
2000 - 6,414
2002 - 10,864
2004 - 11,344
2005 - 12,439
2006 - 15,001
2007 - 17,721
2008 - 19,771
2009 - 22,642
2010.6 - 23,600
(from KIS stats, and from here, here, and here.)
I imagine by the end of 2010, the number of E-2 visa-holders will be near 24,000, meaning they will have increased by 12,000 - and doubled - in 5 years. It's interesting to look at the changes in the last year or so:
In the last year, the number of teachers from the U.S. increased by 2,400, rising from 9,381 to 11,762. Canadians, on the other hand, decreased from 5,017 to 4,815, or from 25.4% to 21.3%. Australia also saw a decrease, while the other countries saw slight increases. The other interesting thing to note is that while most countries have far more males teaching in Korea than females, the reverse is true about South Africa, which had 749 female teachers teaching in Korea at the end of 2009, compared to 529 male teachers.
It's funny all of the attention that 2% of immigrants of 1% of the population get.
ReplyDeleteHow much information is available on the make-up of E2 visa-holders?
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned the sex differences, especially among South Africans, did you find any other, similar information?
I clicked on a few of your links, dowloaded a few files and searched for 원어민 and E2 but got no results. I noticed information about nationality, age, and location for all immigrants/migrant workers (not sure which - my Korean's not great), and was wondering if you'd found similar stats for E2 visas.
Where can we find statistics related to the economic contribution E2 visas make to Korea. I have often thought that if those kinds of statistics were positive it would be a nice thing to throw in the faces of, I mean a nice issue to raise with the various detractors out there.
ReplyDeleteI know I certainly make a hearty contribution to the Korean economy!
Schplook:
ReplyDeleteThe 2008 stats that I posted do - I think - have breakdowns by visa types and regions (or by nationality and region - can't remember). I haven't had a chance to look closely through these current stats to see what's there.
Stafford:
I've no idea where you would find such statistics, though it would be interesting to have them.
Great find. Thank you for linking to them. I had actually come across some statistics for 2010 which broke the visa stats into very intricate detail.
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the stats now - 40,000+ teachers in Korean - it's amazing to see these numbers doubling again and again.
Do you know if there at stats showing actual renewals, as opposed to just new visas - I'm assuming they count all renewals as new visas? Also, as a lover of a good set of demographics, knowing the age range would make my life better I believe.