Inhabitants mobility hits 51-yr low in 2025 on housing stoop

House complexes in downtown Seoul considered from Namsan, Monday / Yonhap

The variety of Koreans shifting to new residences throughout the nation fell to a 51-year low in 2025, weighed down by sluggish housing transactions and demographic adjustments, authorities information confirmed Thursday.

About 6.12 million individuals modified residences final 12 months, down 2.6 % from the earlier 12 months, based on the Ministry of Statistics and Knowledge. The determine marked the bottom degree since 1974, when 5.29 million individuals relocated.

The ministry mentioned inhabitants mobility has been declining over the long run attributable to low beginning charges and speedy inhabitants growing old, which have diminished the variety of youthful individuals who have a tendency to maneuver extra ceaselessly.

Within the quick time period, mobility can also be intently tied to housing market situations, because the variety of newly constructed condo items declined in 2025 in contrast with a 12 months earlier.

The inhabitants mobility price — the proportion of individuals relocating per 100 people — reached 12 % final 12 months, down 0.3 share level from the earlier 12 months.

Seoul recorded a web outflow of about 27,000 individuals, whereas the southeastern metropolis of Gwangju posted a web outflow of roughly 14,000.

The capital metropolis has now skilled web inhabitants losses for 36 consecutive years.

The executive metropolis of Sejong, which had recorded web inflows yearly since its launch in 2012, posted a web outflow of 47 individuals in 2025, marking the primary such decline.

“Month-to-month information reveals Sejong maintained web inflows by way of November, however the determine turned destructive in December,” mentioned Yoo Su-seok, a ministry official, citing the relocation of the oceans ministry to the southeastern port metropolis of Busan.

Against this, Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, noticed a web influx of about 33,000 individuals, whereas the western port metropolis of Incheon recorded a web influx of roughly 32,000.