The number of people who moved within South Korea last month fell to the lowest level for any August in 53 years, as a shrinking population combined with a slowdown in home sales and supply.
A total of 471,000 people relocated domestically in August, according to data on domestic population movement released by the National Data Agency on the 23rd. That was down 22,000, or 4.5%, from the same month a year earlier, and the lowest figure for August since 420,000 moves were recorded in August 1973.
The mobility rate, which measures the number of movers per 100 people, stood at 10.9%, down 0.5 percentage points from a year earlier. That was the lowest August reading since the data series began in 2000.
Officials attribute the decline to a long-term population drop compounded by the recent cooling of the housing market. Home sales totaled 132,000 transactions in June and July, down 4.4% from a year earlier. Apartment completions over the same period plunged 29.1% to 43,000 units.
Moves within the same province or metropolitan city accounted for 64.7% of the total, while moves across provincial or city boundaries made up 35.3%. Compared with a year earlier, intra-regional moves fell 3.2%, while inter-regional moves declined 6.9%, a steeper drop.
By region, Gyeonggi Province posted the largest net inflow at 4,486 people. Incheon drew a net 2,270 and North Chungcheong Province a net 562. Including those areas, six provinces and metropolitan cities recorded more arrivals than departures.
Seoul, by contrast, saw a net outflow of 2,901 people. South Gyeongsang Province lost 1,230 and the Jeonnam-Gwangju area 1,081. A total of 10 provinces and metropolitan cities recorded net outflows.
Adjusted for population size, Incheon had the highest net migration rate at 0.9%, followed by Daejeon at 0.5% and North Chungcheong Province at 0.4%. Sejong had the lowest at -1.1%. South Gyeongsang Province, at -0.5%, and Ulsan, at -0.4%, also posted high net outflow rates.
