The Gyeonggi Family & Women’s Research Institute recently released data on immigrant workers in Gyeonggi Province based on figures from the Ministry of Public Administration and Security following surveys on foreign residents conducted by local governments in 2007, 2008 and 2009. The figures included immigrant workers in Korea and Gyeonggi Province, classified by gender; immigrant workers in each city and county by gender; immigrant workers in Gyeonggi Province by gender and nationality; and the areas of residence of immigrants in Gyeonggi Province by gender and nationality.

The number of immigrant workers in Gyeonggi Province has shown steady annual growth, totaling 116,794 in 2007, 173,230 in 2008, and 205,239 in 2009. As of 2009, there were 65,458 female immigrant workers and 139,781 male immigrant workers in Gyeonggi Province. Females as a portion of immigrant workers in Gyeonggi Province have shown a steady increase, accounting for 28.8% in 2007, 29.8% in 2008 and 31.9% in 2009. 

The percentage of immigrant workers in Gyeonggi Province among those in Korea has fallen from 45% in 2007 to 35.7% in 2009, and this is attributed to the relocation of the so-called “3D” manufacturers that require immigrant workers to provincial areas as well as an increase in demand from agricultural and fishing villages suffering from labor shortages.

According to the analysis of the number of immigrant workers in the 31 cities and counties of Gyeonggi Province , Ansan City recorded the largest numbers of both female immigrant workers and male immigrant workers, with a total number of 27,018 immigrant workers in 2009. There were 9,335 female immigrant workers in Ansan, accounting for 14.3% of those in Gyeonggi Province, while there were 17,683 male immigrant workers in Ansan, accounting for 12.7% of those in Gyeonggi Province. Hwaseong City recorded the second-largest number of male immigrant workers at 16,125, and Suwon City showed the second-largest number of female immigrant workers at 7,994, following the lead of Ansan.

Compared to the previous year, the number of female immigrant workers increased the most in Suwon, followed by Seongnam, Dongducheon, Anyang and Ansan. The number of male immigrants increased the most in Suwon, followed by Seongnam, Icheon, Anseong and Yangju.

According to the analysis of immigrant workers in Gyeonggi Province by nationality, the percentage of Chinese workers (including Korean descendants) has shown the largest increase in both female and male immigrant workers since 1997. In terms of numbers by gender, Chinese female immigrant workers (75.7%) were followed by female immigrant workers from the Philippines (6.0%), Vietnam (4.0%), Thailand (3.9%), Mongolia (2.1%) and the US (1.9%). On the other hand, Chinese male immigrant workers (46.4%) were followed by male immigrant workers from Vietnam (11.8%), India and Bangladesh (10.2%), Thailand (7.8%) and the Philippines (7.4%). Compared to female immigrant workers, male immigrant workers showed a more balanced division of nationalities, and Chinese immigrant workers represented a smaller portion of the total number of workers.

The Institute predicted that the number of immigrant workers will maintain a steady growth trend in the near future, and highlighted the need for policies related to immigrant workers that are customized according to local characteristics.