Last Month, Seoul's Population Shows Net Inflow After One Year... "Temporary Effect of New Semester"

Statistics Korea Announces Domestic Population Movement Statistics for February 2023

Last month, the population of Seoul increased for the first time in 12 months. This was a temporary effect due to the new school term and first half employment.

According to the "Domestic Population Movement Statistics for February 2023" released by Statistics Korea on the 22nd, the number of movers was 622,000, a decrease of 42,000 (6.3%) compared to the same month last year.

Among the total movers, 59.6% moved within the same province, and 40.4% moved between provinces. Compared to the same month last year, intra-province moves decreased by 8.9%, and inter-province moves decreased by 2.1%.

By province, net migration (inflow minus outflow) was positive in seven provinces including Gyeonggi (4,738 people), Seoul (3,467 people), and Incheon (2,569 people). Ten provinces, including Gyeongnam (-4,162 people), Gyeongbuk (-2,015 people), and Daegu (-1,701 people), experienced net outflow.

Seoul had experienced net outflow for 11 consecutive months but turned to net inflow in February this year. Lim Young-il, head of the Population Trends Division at Statistics Korea, explained, "Usually in February, due to the new school term and first half employment, there is a large inflow of population to Seoul," adding, "It is difficult to expect continuity."

The population movement rate (number of movers per 100 people) recorded 15.9%, a decrease of 1.0 percentage point compared to the same month last year.

Net migration rate by population in March 2023.