South Korea's Golf Population Falls 7%... '430,000 Quit in Two Years'

Korea Golf Association Releases Results of Korea Golf Index Survey
Golf for Leisure Declines, Cost-Conscious Weekday Rounds Increase
"Existing Golfers Stop Playing as Influx of New Golfers Slows"

South Korea's golf population has declined by about 7% over the past two years.

According to the results of the 2025 Korea Golf Index survey released by the Korea Golf Association (KGA) on November 2, approximately 5.81 million people participated in golf activities in South Korea in 2025, accounting for 15.9% of the adult population. Compared with approximately 6.24 million (16.9%) in 2023, the number fell by 430,000 (7.0%), while the share of the total population also dropped by 1.0%. The survey was conducted twice, in June and October, using a sample of 10,000 adults in their 20s through 60s from across the country.

The number of people who had played golf rose, but the number of potential participants with no prior experience who were interested in taking up golf fell sharply. The number of people with golf experience increased by 880,000, from approximately 6.78 million (18.3%) in 2023 to approximately 7.66 million (21.0%) in 2025. Over the same period, the number of potential participants with no prior experience who were interested in taking up golf decreased by 1.98 million, from approximately 10.01 million (27.1%) to 8.02 million (22.0%).

The number of golfers in Korea has fallen by as many as 430,000 over the past two years. Courtesy of the Korea Golf Association.

Golf in South Korea remains centered on playing rounds on golf courses. In 2025, 85.9% of golf participants, or approximately 4.99 million people, played rounds on golf course grounds as an essential part of their golf activities. However, this was down 3.0% from 88.9% in 2023. Among new participants who took up golf for the first time in 2025, more than half (52.4%) started at golf practice ranges (29.1%) or indoor screen golf facilities (23.3%).

The reasons people play golf have also shifted. The share of respondents who said they played golf as a hobby fell by 14.3%, from 73.3% in 2023 to 59.0% in 2025. The share who played to relieve stress also dropped by 20.4%, from 52.3% to 31.9%. Golf activities for business-related reasons increased by 2.3%, from 16.7% to 19.0%. Socializing remained a major reason, accounting for 63.3%.

Golf's role in social networking was also evident in the people golfers played rounds with. The share who played with business contacts rose by 5.4%, from 6.1% in 2023 to 11.5% in 2025. The share who played with members of golf clubs also increased, from 5.9% to 9.4%.

More golfers are clearly adopting cost-conscious habits to reduce their golf expenses. The share of rounds played on weekdays increased by 14.1%, from 48.1% in 2023 to 62.2% in 2025. In particular, the share of weekday morning rounds rose from 21.8% to 31.1%, while weekday dawn rounds increased from 6.7% to 11.6%.

Many golfers continued to play golf overseas. Among those with experience playing golf abroad, 63.5% did so in 2025, down 2.3% from 65.8% in 2023. The most popular destinations were Thailand (41.8%), the Philippines (32.8%), Japan (32.4%) and China (18.1%). The share visiting Japan rose by 6.3% from 26.1% in 2023, while the share visiting China also increased by 3.8%.

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