Largest Cities by Population in South Korea

85 cities in South Korea, ranked by population at the census of November 1, 2025 (by National Statistical Office, South Korea).

Rank	City	Native Name	Population
1	Seoul	서울특별시	9,315,066
2	Busan	부산광역시	3,235,362
3	Incheon	인천광역시	3,093,590
4	Daeguincl. Gunwi-gun	대구광역시	2,363,643
5	Daejeon	대전광역시	1,469,299
6	Gwangju	광주광역시	1,431,903
7	Suwon	수원시	1,221,616
8	Ulsan	울산광역시	1,103,509
9	Yongin	용인시	1,085,182
10	Goyang	고양시	1,036,961
11	Hwaseong	화성시	1,027,532
12	Changwonincl. Masan, Jinhae	창원시	992,277
13	Seongnam	성남시	893,970
14	Cheongjuincl. Cheongwon-gun	청주시	879,244
15	Bucheon	부천시	785,571
16	Namyangju	남양주시	716,833
17	Cheonan	천안시	702,769
18	Ansan	안산시	692,647
19	Jeonju	전주시	641,632
20	Pyeongtaek	평택시	627,213
21	Siheung	시흥시	569,365
22	Anyang	안양시	556,447
23	Gimhae	김해시	552,713
24	Paju	파주시	524,107
25	Gimpo	김포시	497,542
26	Jeju	제주시	491,186
27	Pohang	포항시	490,882
28	Uijeongbu	의정부시	459,109
29	Gumi	구미시	408,184
30	Gwangju	광주시	403,286
31	Asan	아산시	397,833
32	Sejong	세종특별자치시	392,471
33	Wonju	원주시	367,326
34	Yangsan	양산시	363,512
35	Jinju	진주시	344,145
36	Hanam	하남시	319,075
37	Yangju	양주시	301,086
38	Gyeongsan	경산시	299,199
39	Chuncheon	춘천시	293,524
40	Gwangmyeong	광명시	284,792
41	Iksan	익산시	272,708
42	Suncheon	순천시	271,415
43	Gunsan	군산시	264,575
44	Osan	오산시	262,421
45	Yeosu	여수시	262,133
46	Gyeongju	경주시	260,108
47	Gunpo	군포시	253,270
48	Geoje	거제시	240,905
49	Icheon	이천시	232,146
50	Anseong	안성시	218,126
51	Chungju	충주시	217,413
52	Gangneung	강릉시	211,628
53	Mokpo	목포시	208,883
54	Guri	구리시	181,716
55	Dangjin	당진시	179,584
56	Seogwipo	서귀포시	178,168
57	Seosan	서산시	176,859
58	Pocheon	포천시	156,136
59	Uiwang	의왕시	155,267
60	Andong	안동시	154,183
61	Gwangyang	광양시	151,710
62	Gimcheon	김천시	135,795
63	Jecheon	제천시	130,497
64	Naju	나주시	120,095
65	Tongyeong	통영시	118,589
66	Yeoju	여주시	118,096
67	Nonsan	논산시	114,111
68	Sacheon	사천시	109,091
69	Gongju	공주시	104,504
70	Miryang	밀양시	101,911
71	Jeongeup	정읍시	101,129
72	Yeongju	영주시	97,800
73	Yeongcheon	영천시	97,214
74	Boryeong	보령시	94,459
75	Sangju	상주시	90,909
76	Dongducheon	동두천시	89,403
77	Donghae	동해시	84,564
78	Gimje	김제시	80,893
79	Sokcho	속초시	78,972
80	Gwacheon	과천시	75,819
81	Namwon	남원시	73,263
82	Mungyeong	문경시	64,382
83	Samcheok	삼척시	62,105
84	Gyeryong	계룡시	44,181
85	Taebaek	태백시	36,823

Source: National Statistical Office, South Korea (2025 census), via City Population by Thomas Brinkhoff.

Why don't these match official city populations?Official figures typically count only the population within administrative boundaries. UN urban area figures cover the entire built-up area, which can include multiple cities and towns.Show moreShow less

Tokyo

33,338,852

Urban area

9,953,160

23 wards

Essen

2,709,375

Urban area

573,618

City of Essen

Ankara

3,630,865

Urban area

5,186,002

Metropolitan municipality

What counts as an urban area? The UN uses satellite imagery to map built-up land, and treats each continuous stretch of built-up land as an urban area. This means that urban areas can extend beyond official city boundaries, and may include multiple cities and towns within a single urban area.

Can an urban area be smaller than its city? Yes. While most cities have urban areas larger than their administrative boundaries, some cities have extensive administrative limits that include sparsely populated areas.

49 urban areas in South Korea with 50,000 or more inhabitants, ranked by the UN's population estimates for 2026.

Rank	Urban Area	Population Estimate (2026)	Yearly Change	Land Area (km²)	Density (P/km²)	World Rank	Projections (2030)	Projections (2050)
1	Seoul	22,517,764	+0.12%	2,256	9,980	10	22,626,893	21,225,404
2	Busan	3,248,254	−0.46%	361	8,998	151	3,188,387	2,742,944
3	Daegu	2,323,365	−0.48%	288	8,067	214	2,279,043	1,968,877
4	Daejeon	1,513,768	−0.23%	204	7,428	338	1,499,643	1,353,972
5	Gwangju	1,438,457	−0.21%	190	7,571	355	1,426,306	1,297,682
6	Ulsan	877,731	−0.47%	200	4,389	601	861,222	723,568
7	Cheongju-si	686,911	−0.50%	84	8,197	792	673,221	612,122
8	Changwon	662,616	−0.48%	109	6,079	823	649,994	547,493
9	Jeonju	635,365	−0.27%	90	7,075	857	628,498	570,907
10	Cheonan-si	427,478	−0.21%	80	5,343	1,322	423,876	383,153
11	Pohang-si	380,518	−0.49%	103	3,694	1,515	373,119	314,776
12	Gumi-si	294,849	−0.50%	67	4,401	1,992	288,955	239,874
13	Gimhae	260,150	−0.54%	67	3,883	2,272	254,576	208,216
14	Mokpo-si	237,836	−0.23%	43	5,531	2,491	235,686	212,211
15	Chuncheon	237,332	+0.40%	39	6,024	2,502	241,122	221,546
16	Jinju-si	236,273	−0.61%	55	4,327	2,512	230,539	192,573
17	Wonju	231,200	+0.49%	42	5,531	2,569	235,740	215,681
18	Gimpo	178,701	+0.15%	48	3,723	3,422	179,807	167,760
19	Gunsan-si	170,866	−0.24%	53	3,224	3,594	169,257	148,267
20	Iksan-si	164,174	−0.24%	35	4,691	3,724	162,604	144,595
21	Dongducheon	155,338	+1.10%	49	3,196	3,955	162,165	140,064
22	Yangsan	149,503	−0.52%	35	4,272	4,103	146,412	123,084
23	Suncheon-si	147,630	−0.23%	36	4,101	4,172	146,248	131,433
24	Pyeongtaek	144,782	−0.24%	33	4,387	4,267	143,402	125,386
25	Hwado	131,609	+0.12%	24	5,484	4,698	132,218	121,217
26	Gangneung	128,709	+0.14%	34	3,786	4,815	129,445	119,496
27	Chungju-si	103,759	+0.50%	18	5,639	6,038	105,825	95,441
28	Jinhae-gu	98,809	−0.51%	22	4,491	6,332	96,810	81,082
29	Gwangju	98,330	+0.15%	44	2,235	6,363	98,912	80,784
30	Geoje-si	98,196	−0.49%	20	4,910	6,370	96,260	80,348
31	웅상	85,929	−1.48%	22	3,836	7,334	80,843	63,113
32	Ayang	82,538	−0.54%	27	3,057	7,666	80,756	63,517
33	Jecheon-si	74,717	+0.06%	17	4,395	8,435	74,894	69,135
34	Sokcho	74,655	+0.13%	24	3,111	8,445	75,052	70,038
35	Jeju-si	73,889	−0.57%	25	2,956	8,549	72,191	60,979
36	Asan-si	72,045	−0.25%	12	6,004	8,733	71,335	64,569
37	Jangdeung-ri	69,322	−0.24%	19	3,649	9,049	68,653	62,107
38	Tongyeong-si	65,710	−0.51%	18	3,651	9,557	64,360	54,373
39	Daegot	65,529	+0.12%	27	2,427	9,582	65,854	58,209
40	Gyeongju-si	63,310	−0.55%	20	3,165	9,924	61,924	–
41	Andong-si	62,425	−0.53%	16	3,902	10,076	61,093	–
42	Hallim-myeon	62,230	−0.58%	29	2,146	10,113	60,778	–
43	Wolha-dong	62,101	−0.25%	28	2,218	10,129	61,481	–
44	Taein-dong	60,273	−0.70%	35	1,732	10,389	58,583	–
45	Hyangnam	59,775	+0.12%	24	2,491	10,465	60,069	–
46	Noha-ri	56,133	+0.15%	25	2,245	11,110	56,471	–
47	Paju	55,365	+0.94%	12	4,465	11,265	57,443	51,238
48	Hogye-ri	53,477	−0.60%	10	5,348	11,627	52,200	–
49	Sincheon-dong	52,735	−0.50%	11	4,794	11,765	51,684	–

Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2025). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2025 Revision, Online Edition.

Data topics

Reference

Tools

Largest Cities by Population in South Korea

See also