Domestic Population Migration Declines for 11 Consecutive Months... Continuous Outflow from Seoul for 21 Months

Statistics Korea Announces 'November Domestic Population Movement Statistics'

An apartment complex in the Mapo area as seen from the 63 Square Observatory in Yeouido, Seoul on the 22nd of last month. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Domestic population movement has decreased for 11 consecutive months due to factors such as a reduction in housing move-in volumes. In Seoul, there has been a net population outflow for 21 consecutive months.

The Statistics Korea announced the domestic population movement statistics for November on the 29th, which included these details. The number of domestic movers in November was 567,000, a 7.1% (44,000 people) decrease compared to the same period last year. The number of domestic movers has been declining for 11 consecutive months since January.

The population movement rate, which indicates the number of movers per 100 people, was 13.4%, down 1.1 percentage points (p) from the same month a year ago. Kim Sooyoung, head of the Population Trends Division at Statistics Korea, explained, "The high population movement last year due to increased move-in volumes normalized this year, acting as a base effect." This means that while this year's population movement is at a normal level, it appears as a decrease because last year's movement was exceptionally high.

Among total movers, 67.8% moved within the same city or province, while 32.2% moved between cities or provinces. Looking at net migration (inflow minus outflow) by region, nine regions including Gyeonggi (8,569 people), Incheon (1,616 people), and Chungnam (1,374 people) experienced net population inflows. Eight regions including Seoul (-10,554 people), Daegu (-1,806 people), and Busan (-1,507 people) experienced net population outflows.

In particular, Seoul has seen a net population outflow for 21 consecutive months since March last year. Since the 1990s, Seoul has generally shown a tendency for net population outflow. This is interpreted as being influenced by high housing costs and other factors.

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