Nationwide Population Movement Declines for 14 Consecutive Months... Seoul Sees Net Inflow for the First Time in 2 Years

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] Domestic population movement has decreased for 14 consecutive months. Seoul experienced a net population inflow for the first time in two years due to the large-scale occupancy of apartments.

According to the "February Domestic Population Movement Statistics" released by Statistics Korea on the 23rd, the number of people who moved nationwide last month was 664,000, down 5.9% (42,000 people) compared to the same period last year. This marks a decline for 14 consecutive months since January last year.

No Hyungjun, head of the Population Trends Division at Statistics Korea, explained, "Population movement is generally decreasing as the relatively mobile 20s and 30s age groups are shrinking while the elderly population is increasing," adding, "In the short term, the decrease in housing sales and the number of apartments scheduled for occupancy had an impact."

The population movement rate, which indicates the number of movers per 100 people, was 16.9%, down 1.0 percentage point compared to the same period last year.

Among total movers, 61.3% moved within the same city or province, while 38.7% moved between cities or provinces. Compared to one year ago, intra-city/province moves decreased by 10.5%, while inter-city/province moves increased by 2.5%.

By region, Seoul saw a net population inflow for the first time in two years since February 2020. The number of incoming residents exceeded outgoing residents by 3,265.

No said, "(Relatively) outflows to Incheon and Gyeonggi were low, and inflows to Seoul were high," adding, "The large-scale occupancy of apartments in Songpa-gu appears to have influenced the population inflow."

Eight cities and provinces, including Seoul, Gyeonggi (2,176 people), and Incheon (2,007 people), experienced net population inflows. Nine cities and provinces, including Gyeongnam (-3,558 people), Daegu (-2,294 people), and Ulsan (-1,641 people), experienced net population outflows.

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