JEJU, May 3 (Korea Bizwire) – The southern resort island of Jeju reported shrinking building area for the first annual quarter.
The Jeju provincial government reported a 26.41 percent decrease in the province’s building permit area, which dropped from 480,392 square meters in the January-March period last year to 353,509 square meters for the same quarter this year.
The building permit area for residential homes made the steepest plunge of 48.97 percent, most likely due to the shrinking number of new residents on the island and lower birth rate that have resulted in less demand for private housing.
Statistics Korea reported that Jeju no longer maintains the 10,000 benchmark of new residents settling in Jeju every year since 2014. The number dropped to 8,806 people in 2018, and down to 2,000 people last year.
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