Population Movement Up 18.0% in January This Year... Largest Increase in 17 Years

The number of movers last month increased at the largest rate in 17 years.

According to the "January 2024 Domestic Population Movement Statistics" released by Statistics Korea on the 28th, the number of movers in January was 597,000, an 18.0% increase compared to the same month last year.

This is the largest increase in 17 years since January 2007, which recorded 27.9%.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety is ending its 70-year era in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, since the establishment of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Office of General Affairs in 1948, and will relocate to Sejong City over the next three weeks starting today. The relocation to Sejong City was confirmed as part of the Moon Jae-in administration's national agenda, following the amendment of the Happy City Act in 2017 and last year's "Notice of Change in the Relocation Plan of Central Administrative Agencies." On the 7th, officials are moving belongings at the Government Seoul Office Building. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

Statistics Korea explained that this is a base effect due to the low population movement in January last year. Population movement in January last year decreased by 8.4% compared to the same month the previous year.

The population movement rate in January (number of movers per 100 people) was 13.8%, an increase of 2.2 percentage points compared to the same month last year.

Among total movers, 63.0% moved within the same province or city, and 37.0% moved between provinces or cities. Compared to the same month last year, intra-provincial moves increased by 21.3%, and inter-provincial moves increased by 12.7%.

Looking at net migration by province, calculated by subtracting the number of people moving out from those moving in, four provinces including Gyeonggi (4,954 people), Incheon (3,373 people), and Chungnam (1,258 people) experienced net inflows. Thirteen provinces including Gyeongbuk (-1,412 people), Gyeongnam (-1,173 people), and Busan (-1,063 people) experienced net outflows.

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