Capital region remains home to more than half of the population An aerial view shows apartment complexes in Songpa-gu, southern Seoul, taken Aug. 12. (Yonhap) More than 9 in 10 South Koreans live in urban areas that account for less than one-fifth of the country’s land.Some 92.1 percent of the population lived in urban areas in 2025, even though those areas accounted for just 16.7 percent of the country’s territory, according to government data released Thursday.A total of 106,563 square kilometers of land had been designated for specific land-use purposes as of the end of last year, of which 17,740 square kilometers were classified as urban areas, according to a joint report by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corp.Agricultural and forest areas accounted for the largest share at 49,191 square kilometers, or 46.2 percent of the country’s territory. Management areas followed at 27,329 square kilometers, or 25.6 percent, while urban areas accounted for 16.7 percent.Natural environment conservation areas accounted for 11,874 square kilometers, or 11.1 percent, while unclassified areas made up 429 square kilometers, or 0.4 percent.The land-use classifications are designated in accordance with the National Land Planning and Utilization Act and its enforcement decree.A breakdown of urban areas showed that green zones accounted for 70.8 percent, or 12,555 square kilometers. Residential areas made up 15.7 percent, or 2,791 square kilometers, followed by industrial areas at 7.3 percent, or 1,292 square kilometers, and commercial areas at 2 percent, or 349 square kilometers.South Korea had a registered population of 51.12 million at the end of last year, of whom 47.06 million lived in urban areas.Korea’s urban population has hovered around the 92 percent mark for the past decade. The share stood at 91.8 percent in 2015 and reached 92.1 percent in 2023, remaining at that level since.The figures reflect Korea’s rapid urbanization in the latter half of the 20th century. While only 39.7 percent of Koreans lived in urban areas in 1960, the share rose to 53.7 percent in 1970, 75.2 percent in 1980, 83.8 percent in 1990 and 88.3 percent in 2000, according to the Land Ministry.The country’s urbanization has also been accompanied by a heavy concentration of population and economic activity in the capital region.Greater Seoul, which also includes Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, accounts for about 51 percent of the country’s population.The concentration is also reflected in housing prices. An October report showed that apartments in Greater Seoul sold for 1.45 times as much as those elsewhere in the country in June, the widest gap in 17 years.Globally, urbanization is expected to continue in the coming decades. The United Nations’ 2018 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects projected that the share of the world’s population living in urban areas would rise from 55 percent in 2018 to 68 percent by 2050.