Policy on North Korean Defectors > Data & Statistics > South-North Relations

Number of North Korean Defectors Entering South Korea

(persons)

Number of North Korean Defectors Entering South Korea
Category	~'98	~'01	'02	'03	'04	'05	'06	'07	'08	'09	'10	'11	'12	'13	'14	'15	'16	'17	’18	’19	’20	’21	’22	’23	’24	’25.12	Total
Male	831	565	510	474	626	424	515	573	608	662	591	795	404	369	305	251	302	188	168	202	72	40	35	32	26	25	9,593
Female	116	478	632	811	1,272	960	1,513	1,981	2,195	2,252	1,811	1,911	1,098	1,145	1,092	1,024	1,116	939	969	845	157	23	32	164	210	198	24,944
Total	947	1,043	1,142	1,285	1,898	1,3845	2,028	2,554	2,803	2,914	2,402	2,706	1,502	1,514	1,397	1,275	1,418	1,127	1,137	1,047	229	63	67	196	236	223	34,537
Percent age of female defecto rs	12.2%	45.8%	55.3%	63.1%	67.0%	69.4%	74.6%	77.6%	78.3%	77.3%	75.4%	70.6%	73.1%	75.6%	78.2%	80.3%	78.7%	83.3%	85.2%	80.7%	68.6%	36.5%	47.8%	83.7%	89.0%	88.8%	72.2%

Number of North Korean Defectors by Age Group

(persons)

Number of North Korean Defectors by Age Group
Category	Ages 0-9	Ages 10-19	Ages 20-29	Ages 30-39	Ages 40-49	Ages 50-59	Ages 60 and older	Total
Male	653	1,712	2,648	2,179	1,413	613	360	9,578
Female	646	2,117	7,049	7,728	4,755	1,544	1,013	24,852
Total	1,299	3,829	9,697	9,907	6,168	2,157	1,373	34,340

※ The figures are based on the ages when they entered South Korea and may differ from the actual number of North Korean defectors due to the exclusion of those who arrived recently and are in protection facilities.

Number of North Korean Defectors by Professional Background in the North

(persons)

Number of North Korean Defectors by Professional Background in the North
Category	Management	Military	Workers	Unemployed	Volunteer sector	Arts and sports	Professions	Non-target (children)	Total
Male	420	723	4,217	3,221	95	83	247	572	9,578
Female	144	173	9,492	12,076	1,495	226	541	705	24,852
Total	564	896	13,709	15,297	1,590	309	788	1,277	34,430

※ The figures may differ from the actual number of North Korean defectors due to the exclusion of those who arrived recently and are in protection facilities (The figures may be adjusted as a result of the revision of historical

Number of North Korean Defectors by Academic Background in the North

(persons)

Number of North Korean Defectors by Academic Background in the North
Category	Preschool child	Kindergarten	Primary school	Secondary school (Middleand highschool)	College	University and higher education	Uneducated	Other (unidentified)	Total
Male	419	135	808	5,778	870	1,158	362	48	9,578
Female	406	223	1,540	18,057	2,765	1,239	521	101	24,852
Total	825	358	2,348	23,835	3,635	2,397	883	149	34,430

※ The figures may differ from the actual number of North Korean defectors due to the exclusion of those who arrived recently and are in protection facilities, and they include dropouts for each educational level.
※ The figures may be adjusted as a result of the revision of historical data and the category of Other includes those who entered Hanawon recently and did not fill in their academic background.

Number of North Korean Defectors by Region of Birth in the North

(persons)

Number of North Korean Defectors by Region of Birth in the North
Cate gory	Kangwon	Nampo	Ryang gang	Jagang	South Pyongan	North Pyongan	Pyong yang	South Hamg yong	North Hamg yong	South Hwang hae	North Hwang hae	Kaesong	Other (uniden tified)	Total
Male	228	78	1,563	80	466	380	521	783	4,870	276	190	48	95	9,578
Female	387	95	4,638	171	666	516	368	2,153	15,189	214	290	34	131	24,852
Total	615	173	6,201	251	1,132	896	889	2,936	20,059	490	480	82	226	34,430

※ The figures may differ from the actual number of North Korean defectors due to the exclusion of those who arrived recently and are in protection facilities.

Number of North Korean Defectors by Region

(persons)

Number of North Korean Defectors by Region
Region	Seoul	Gyeonggi	Incheon	Busan	North Gyeongsang	South Gyeongsang	Daegu	North Chung cheong	South Chung cheong and Sejong
Male	1,947	2,813	799	195	231	227	121	297	373
Female	4,356	8,460	2,209	627	908	810	477	1,136	1,474
Total	6,303	11,273	3,008	822	1,139	1,037	598	1,433	1,847
Region	Gwangju	Gangwon	Daejeon	South Jeolla	North Jeolla	Ulsan	Jeju	Total
Male	112	215	116	125	106	114	66	7,857
Female	396	727	451	547	427	339	277	23,621
Total	508	942	567	672	533	453	343	31,478

※ The figures do not include those who are dead, whose resident registrations were cancelled, who emigrated, whose residences are unknown, and who are in protection facilities.

Settlement Status of North Korean Defectors

(percentage (%))

Settlement Status of North Korean Defectors
Category	’08	’09	’10	’11	’12	’13	’14	’15	’16	’17	’18	’19	’20	’21	’22	’23	’24	’25
Percentage of recipients receiving livelihood benefits	54.8	54.9	51.3	46.7	40.8	35	32.3	25.3	24.4	24.4	23.8	23.8	23.8	22.8	22.6	22.7	22.9	23.4
Dropout rates(primary, middle, and highschool)	10.8	6.1	4.9	4.7	3.3	3.46	2.5	2.2	2.1	2.0	2.5	3.0	2.9	1.2	1.6	1.9	2.7	2.2

Economic Activities of North Korean Defectors

(percentage (%))

Economic Activities of North Korean Defectors
Category	’08	’09	’10	’11	’12	’13	’14	’15	’16	’17	’18	’19	’20	’21	’22	’23	’24	’25
Activity Rates	49.6	48.6	42.6	56.5	54.1	56.9	56.6	59.4	57.9	61.2	64.8	62.1	60.1	61.3	63.0	63.4	64.1	64.8
Employment rates	44.9	41.9	38.7	49.7	50	51.4	53.1	54.6	55	56.9	60.4	58.2	54.4	56.7	59.2	60.5	60.1	61.3
Unemploy ment rates	9.5	13.7	9.2	12.1	7.5	9.7	6.2	4.8	5.1	7	6.9	6.3	9.4	7.5	6.1	4.5	6.3	5.4

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