South Korea's golf population falls to 5.81 million, down 7% in two years

Korea Golf Association releases 2025 golf index

Participation rate drops to 15.9%

Weekday rounds surge to 62.2% of total

Golfers play a round at a golf course. [Korea Golf Association]

South Korea's active golf population shrank by about 430,000 over the past two years, with slowing demand from new players signaling a broader cooling of the golf market.

The Korea Golf Association (KGA) released the findings of its "2025 Korea Golf Index" on Monday. The survey estimated the number of active golfers in 2025 at about 5.81 million, representing 15.9 percent of the total surveyed population — down about 430,000, or 7.0 percent, from 6.24 million (16.9 percent) in 2023.

The survey was conducted twice, in June and October, using a sample of 10,000 people representative of approximately 36.5 million adults in their 20s through 60s nationwide.

The number of people who had played golf at least once in the past three years grew from 6.78 million in 2023 to 7.66 million in 2025. At the same time, the number of non-golfers who said they intended to take up the sport fell from about 10.01 million to 8.02 million — a drop of roughly 1.99 million — over the same period. The figures point to a simultaneous drop-off among existing golfers and a slowdown in new entrants.

About 4.99 million golfers, or 85.9 percent of active participants, said they play on actual golf courses, down 3.0 percentage points from 88.9 percent in 2023, though course play remained the dominant form of participation. Among new golfers in 2025, 29.1 percent said they started at a driving range and 23.3 percent at an indoor screen golf facility, with the two venues together accounting for 52.4 percent of all new entrants.

Infographic from the 2025 Korea Golf Index. [Korea Golf Association]

The reasons people play golf also shifted. The share citing hobby as their primary motivation fell from 73.3 percent in 2023 to 59.0 percent in 2025, while stress relief dropped from 52.3 percent to 31.9 percent. Business-related golf, however, rose from 16.7 percent to 19.0 percent. The proportion of business associates among playing partners climbed from 6.1 percent to 11.5 percent, and the share of club members playing together increased from 5.9 percent to 9.4 percent.

A clear trend toward cost-cutting was also evident. The share of weekday rounds — generally cheaper than weekend play — rose 14.1 percentage points, from 48.1 percent in 2023 to 62.2 percent in 2025. Particularly notable were increases in weekday morning rounds, which climbed from 21.8 percent to 31.1 percent, and early-morning weekday rounds, which rose from 6.7 percent to 11.6 percent.

Southeast Asia continued to dominate overseas golf travel. Thailand topped the list of destinations at 41.8 percent, followed by the Philippines at 32.8 percent. Japan's share rose from 26.1 percent in 2023 to 32.4 percent in 2025, while China's increased from 14.3 percent to 18.1 percent.

yjc@heraldcorp.com