National Data Office reports living population surge in February amid holiday travel

The National Data Office said Thursday that the living population in South Korea's 89 designated depopulating regions surged to 25.82 million in February, a sharp increase from the previous month driven by travel during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The figure represents a year-on-year gain of 5.6 million people, with the visiting population alone reaching 20.98 million, or roughly 4.3 times the number of registered residents in those areas.

"The living population includes not only registered residents but also those staying in the region to enhance its actual vitality," the agency said in its report, noting the data combines resident records with mobile and credit card information to track real-time regional activity.

The spike reversed a decline seen in January, when the living population fell by 3.51 million compared to the same period a year earlier due to a high base effect from the previous year's holiday timing. March figures showed a slight contraction of 246,000 people from a year earlier, which the agency attributed to reduced short-term travel caused by rising fuel costs.

Men accounted for a larger share of the visiting population than women, with 11.54 million male visitors compared to 9.44 million females. Individuals in their 30s and 40s had the highest visitor-to-resident ratios, while those over 60 made up the largest absolute group of visitors.

Card spending analysis indicated that visitors contributed about 33 percent of total credit card usage in these regions, with metropolitan areas seeing a visitor share exceeding 47 percent. Short-term stays saw higher spending in healthcare, while commuters spent more on education and transport.