SEOUL– The number of South Koreans who moved to different residences in the country fell for the 14th consecutive month in February amid fewer housing transactions and population aging, government data showed Wednesday.
The number of people who changed their residences stood at 664,000 last month, down 5.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
The tally, however, was up from 552,000 reported the previous month.
The government has unleashed a series of measures to tame rising home prices, including tax hikes and loan regulations, including tighter lending rules, resulting in a decrease of home transactions. Higher interest rates were also responsible.
Asia’s fourth-largest economy became an aged society in 2017, when the proportion of those aged over 65 years reached over 14 percent of its entire population.
The population mobility rate — the percentage of those relocating per 100 people — reached 16.9 percent in February, down 1 percentage point from a year earlier.
The data also showed the South Korean capital of Seoul and seven other cities and provinces recording a net population inflow, with nine cities and provinces posting a net outflow.
Seoul chalked up a net inflow of 3,265 in February, a drastic turnaround from a net outflow of 9,415 a year earlier and the first net inflow in two years.
Source: Yonhap News Agency