Population Decline and Sluggish Housing Transactions Lead to Lowest August Movers in 53 Years

Driven by a downward trend in population and sluggish housing transactions, the number of domestic movers in August hit a 53-year low for the same month.

According to the domestic population migration statistics for August released by the National Data Agency today (the 23rd), the number of domestic movers last month stood at 471,000, down 4.5% (22,000) from a year earlier.

This is the lowest level for any August since August 1973 (420,000).

The population migration rate, which shows the number of movers per 100 people, stood at 10.9%, down 0.5 percentage points (p) from a year earlier.

The migration rate was also the lowest for any August since the agency began compiling statistics in 2000.

The low population movement last month is attributed to the long-term trend of population decline combined with a slowdown in housing transactions and supply.

An official from the Data Agency explained, "Housing sales totaled 132,000 units in June and July, down 4.4% from a year earlier, while apartment completion figures indicating supply also dropped by 29.1% to 43,000 units over the same period."

Among total movers, intra-provincial movers accounted for 64.7% and inter-provincial movers for 35.3%, respectively.

Compared to a year earlier, intra-provincial movers decreased by 3.2% and inter-provincial movers by 6.9%.

Looking at net migration (in-migration minus out-migration) by city and province, six regions including Gyeonggi (4,486), Incheon (2,270), and North Chungcheong (562) saw net in-migration.

On the other hand, 10 regions including Seoul (-2,901), Gyeongnam (-1,230), and Jeonnam-Gwangju (-1,081) experienced net out-migration.

By region, the net migration rate was highest in Incheon (0.9%), Daejeon (0.5%), and North Chungcheong (0.4%).

Conversely, it was lowest in Sejong (-1.1%), Gyeongnam (-0.5%), and Ulsan (-0.4%).
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.