Weekend Population Movement Drops to 42% Amid COVID-19 Spread... Recently Recovered to 75% Level

Statistics Korea, Analysis Results of 'Population Movement Before and After COVID-19 Outbreak' Based on Mobile Big Data

Population movement change rate compared to before the COVID-19 outbreak. (Unit: %)

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] After the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), Saturday population movement decreased by about 42% but recently recovered to around 75%. Compared to men, women showed a larger decrease, and by region, population inflow significantly declined mainly in tourist areas such as Jeju, Gangwon, Busan, and Daegu, where large-scale confirmed cases occurred.

On the 15th, Statistics Korea and SK Telecom announced the analysis results of 'Population Movement After COVID-19 Outbreak' based on mobile big data.

This analysis estimated population movement using weekday and weekend data of 22 million SKT subscribers nationwide. The analysis period was 112 days from January 9 to May 10 this year, excluding the Lunar New Year holiday (January 24?27).

According to the data, due to the impact of local cluster infections of COVID-19 (February 20?29), population movement on the fourth Saturday after the outbreak (February 29) decreased by 41.9% compared to the same Saturday in 2019. This was the largest decline.

Afterwards, the decrease gradually eased. On the 13th Saturday after the outbreak (May 2), it showed about 83%, but the recovery slowed on the following Saturday, May 9, showing about 75%.

By gender and age, overall after the COVID-19 outbreak, women showed a larger decrease than men, and by age group, those under 20, in their 20s, 60s, and 70 and older experienced significant reductions in movement. However, from April 27 to May 3, during the four-day holiday (April 30?May 3), family accompanying movements increased sharply, resulting in a large increase in movement among women and those under 20.

By location type, areas with relatively high potential for human contact such as commercial districts, tourist spots, and leisure sports facilities showed a greater decrease in movement than large outlets and residential areas. By region, population inflow significantly decreased mainly in tourist areas or large-scale confirmed case regions such as Jeju, Gangwon, Busan, and Daegu.

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