Signal All five non-capital metropolitan cities have passed their population peaks

Summary

Busan peaked first, at about 3.85 million in 1995, and is projected to shrink to about 2.69 million by 2045. Daegu topped out in 2004, Daejeon in 2014, Ulsan in 2016 and Gwangju in 2019, and each has been losing residents since. By 2045 the projections put Daegu at about 1.96 million, Daejeon at about 1.327 million, Gwangju at about 1.267 million and Ulsan at about 0.91 million. Until the early 2000s, when innovation cities were being planned, most of these cities except Busan were still growing. In the 2020s all of them entered decline, and the projected losses become larger over time.