SEOUL, The number of South Koreans who moved to different residences in the country rose for the fifth consecutive month in February amid rising home transactions, data showed Wednesday.
Around 655,000 people changed residences last month, up 5.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
The number of people changing residences has been on a constant rise since October last year.
The population mobility rate, which means the percentage of those relocating per 100 people, inched up 0.3 percentage point on-year to 16.2 percent last month.
The increase came as the number of home transactions surged around 49.1 percent in the December-January period.
By region, Seoul saw a net inflow of 3,134 people in February. It was the first time in a year that the capital city had growth in its population.
Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds the capital, and the northwestern port city of Incheon also posted net inflows of 4,972 and 3,071, respectively.
In 2023, the number of peop
le who changed residences fell to the lowest level in about 50 years amid population aging and a housing market slump.
Source: Yonhap News Agency