The image shows picturesque Oeam Folk Village (Image provided by Asan City Hall)
SEOUL, June 25 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of households that moved from urban areas to farming and fishing villages fell for the second consecutive year in 2023, data showed Tuesday.
The number of households moving to farming villages came to 317,464 last year, down 4.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
The figure fell 12.3 percent in 2022 following two years of on-year growth amid the COVID-19 pandemic and soaring housing prices.
In detail, the number of households that opted to resettle in farming towns to farm fell 17 percent on-year to 10,307, and the number of households relocating to fishing villages fell 24.7 percent last year to 716.
The number of people who moved to rural areas combined also lost 3.9 percent on-year to 306,441 last year.
The decline also came as a growing number of people in their 60s landed jobs in cities amid a recovery in the service and other sectors.
Also attributable was that the country toughened regulations on the fishing industry under the revised fisheries act.
Some 78.5 percent of households that relocated to rural areas were single-member households.
The largest proportion, or 34.5 percent, said they moved to rural areas for jobs, followed by 24.1 percent citing housing and another 24.1 percent saying family issues, the data showed.
(Yonhap)
