S. Korea's Population Movement Slumps to Lowest in Over Three Decades

(MENAFN) South Korea's internal migration slumped to its lowest level in three decades last month, as a deepening demographic crisis and a slowdown in housing activity continued to grip the country, official data revealed Wednesday.

Just 615,000 people relocated across provincial or municipal boundaries in February — a sharp 11.5 percent drop from the same period a year ago, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. The figure marks the weakest February mobility reading since 1994, driven by a confluence of structural and short-term pressures, including chronically low birth rates, a rapidly aging population, a decline in newly completed housing units, and disruptions tied to the Lunar New Year holidays.

The population mobility rate — which measures the share of residents relocating to a different region per 100 people — fell 2.0 percentage points year-on-year to just 15.7 percent in February, underscoring the breadth of the slowdown.

Geographic disparities remained pronounced. The capital Seoul and the neighboring Gyeonggi province attracted net inflows of 4,227 and 4,428 residents, respectively, reinforcing the continued gravitational pull of the greater metropolitan area. In contrast, the country's southern regions continued to hemorrhage residents, with South Gyeongsang province recording a net outflow of 3,454 people and North Gyeongsang province shedding 2,011 — a pattern that signals widening regional imbalances as South Korea grapples with one of the world's most severe demographic outlooks.

MENAFN25032026000045017169ID1110904142