South Korea's Internal Migration Drops Sharply in August
(MENAFN) South Korea’s internal migration dropped sharply in August, reversing a two-month uptick, as a combination of sluggish housing activity and rapid population aging continues to dampen residential mobility, according to Statistics Korea.
The number of people who changed residence either within or between cities and provinces fell 3.5% year-over-year to 493,000 last month. That decline follows gains of 8.6% in June and 8.1% in July, signaling a sudden downturn in domestic mobility trends.
The figure marks the lowest August level in nearly five decades, dating back to 1976.
Officials attributed the slump to two persistent factors: a faltering real estate market and the broader demographic pressures of a shrinking, aging population. Migration levels in South Korea have been on a general decline in recent years as birth rates fall and the median age rises.
The population mobility rate — the number of movers per 100 residents — also dropped, edging down 0.4 percentage points from a year earlier to 11.4% in August.
Urban migration patterns shifted unevenly across regions. The capital, Seoul, recorded a net outflow of 1,815 residents, while Busan, the country’s second-largest city, saw 776 more people leave than arrive. In contrast, the surrounding Gyeonggi Province and nearby Incheon posted net inflows of 3,979 and 1,941 people, respectively.
The data underscores the widening demographic and economic gaps between major urban centers and their suburban counterparts as housing affordability and lifestyle preferences drive relocation decisions.
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