500,000 Population Movers Last Month... 19.6% Decrease Compared to Previous Year

Statistics Korea 'December Domestic Population Movement Statistics'

Monthly population movement trends over the past three years. Source: Statistics Korea

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Song Seungseop] Last month, the number of domestic movers was recorded at 497,000, down 19.6% (122,000 people) compared to the same month last year. The population mobility rate, which indicates the number of movers per 100 people, fell by 2.8 percentage points to 11.4% during the same period.

According to the 'December Domestic Population Movement Statistics' released by Statistics Korea on the 30th, among the total movers, 64.1% moved within the same city/province, while 35.9% moved between cities/provinces. Compared to December 2021, intra-city/province moves decreased by 22%, and inter-city/province moves decreased by 15%.

Net inflow was highest in the Gyeonggi region with 6,902 people, followed by Incheon with 2,785 people, and Chungnam with 1,536 people. On the other hand, 10 cities/provinces including Seoul (-7,414 people), Daegu (-1,274 people), and Busan (-1,256 people) recorded net outflows. The net migration rate was highest in Sejong at 2.1%, while Seoul had the lowest at 0.9%.

By quarter, the number of movers was 1.43 million, shrinking by 17.1% (295,000 people) compared to the same period last year. The mobility rate was 11.1%, down 2.3 percentage points during the same period. In the 4th quarter, net migration by city/province showed net inflows in Gyeonggi (15,363 people), Incheon (7,926 people), and Chungnam (5,061 people). Nine cities/provinces including Seoul (-20,255 people), Busan (-3,100 people), and Gyeongnam (-2,767 people) recorded net outflows.

By age group, those in their 20s were the most mobile with 321,000 movers, followed by those in their 30s with 303,000 movers. The mobility rates were also highest in the 20s (19.8%) and 30s (18.2%) age groups. Compared to the same period last year, both the number of movers and mobility rates decreased across all age groups.

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