4 in 10 Koreans Own Land... Seniors in Their 60s or Older Hold 67%

Announcement of 2025 Land Ownership Statistics
39.4% of Total Population Own Land
Steady Increase in Land Ownership Among People in Their 70s

As of the end of last year, it was found that 4 out of every 10 people in South Korea owned land. The age group that owned the most land was those in their 60s, while the proportion of land held by people in their 50s or younger has been declining year after year.

According to statistics on land ownership status released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on July 29, 2026, 20.12 million people, or 39.4% of South Korea's total population of 51.12 million, owned land as of the end of last year. The number of landowners has steadily increased each year, with 19.03 million in 2023 and 19.65 million in 2024.

Provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

The land ownership status statistics are compiled annually based on cadastral records, such as land and forest ledgers registered by local governments across the country.

By household, 15.65 million households, or 64.4% of the 24.3 million registered households, owned land. The number of land-owning households also rose 2.3% compared to the previous year's 15.3 million households.

By age group, those in their 60s owned the largest area of land. People in their 60s held 13,860 square kilometers, accounting for 30% of individually owned land (a total of 46,127 square kilometers). They were followed by those in their 70s, who accounted for 22% (10,141 square kilometers) of the total. Notably, in the case of those in their 70s, their share of land ownership increased steadily from 19.5% in 2022 to 22% last year. Overall, people aged 60 and above, including those over 80, accounted for 67.1% of the total land owned by individuals.

On the other hand, the proportion of land owned by people in their 50s and younger is on a downward trend. For those in their 50s and 40s, the proportion of land owned fell from 22.1% and 10.2% in 2022 to 20.5% and 8.5%, respectively, last year. For people in their 30s, the share likewise declined from 3.3% to 2.9% during the same period.

Corporations were found to own 7,463 square kilometers of land, a slight increase of 0.8% compared to the previous year. In terms of the designated usage and classification of owned land, agricultural and forest areas accounted for the largest shares at 32.7% and 46.4% respectively.

By the location of the land, Sejong City recorded the highest proportion of land owned by out-of-region residents, with 59.5% of all land owned by those not from the area. This was followed by Gangwon Province at 50.8%, North Gyeongsang Province at 49.9%, and North Chungcheong Province at 48.5%. In Seoul, the proportion of land owned by out-of-region residents was 21%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.