Foreign residents on Jejudo surge

The number of foreign residents on Jejudo Island has been surging by over 20 percent annually in recent years, data showed Tuesday.

According to the Jeju Provincial Government, more than 19,000 foreigners lived on the island as of January, jumping by 28 percent on-year. The figure accounts for 3.3 percent of the total regional population.

The foreign population has been on the rise since 2009 with an average growth rate of 21.9 percent.

By nationality, Chinese made up the largest share with 47.6 percent, followed by Vietnamese and Indonesians, with 15.6 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively.

By occupation, laborers accounted for the most with 31 percent, followed by those working in the investment sector with 25.3 percent. Marriage immigrants took up 10.3 percent while international students made up 4.8 percent. The remaining were overseas Koreans.

The number of multicultural families also rose by 8.2 percent over last year to about 3,000.

By Lee Hyun-jeong (rene@heraldcorp.com)