South Koreans changed residences from region to region at the lowest pace in 43 years last year due largely to a rise in housing prices and rapid aging, government data showed Tuesday. (Image: Yonhap)
SEJONG, Jan. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – South Koreans changed residences from region to region at the lowest pace in 43 years last year due largely to a rise in housing prices and rapid aging, government data showed Tuesday.
The number of people who moved to other regions in the country dropped 3 percent on-year to 7.15 million throughout 2017, the lowest tally since 1976 when numbers reached 6.77 million, according to the data by Statistics Korea.
Of the total, 66.3 percent moved within their municipal and provincial boundaries, while 33.7 percent chose to cross such borders.
The population mobility rate — the number of those changing residence for every 100 people — fell 0.5 percentage point to a 46-year low of 14.0 percent last year.
Housing prices in Seoul rose sharply last year despite a series of measures to rein in surging prices, including tightened home mortgages.
The government’s tightened regulations on mortgage loans, a bid to reduce household debt, affected population mobility.
A net 42,000 people moved to the capital city of Seoul last year, while a net 17,000 people moved out of Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds the capital.
(Yonhap)
