South Korea internal migration falls 10.1 percent in September, National Data Office says

South Korea's internal migration fell 10.1 percent in September from a year earlier, with 443,766 people changing their registered address across municipal boundaries, the National Data Office said.

The migration rate — the number of movers per 100 residents, adjusted to an annual basis — came to 10.6 percent, down 1.2 percentage points from the same month last year. Moves within the same province or metropolitan city accounted for 66.5 percent of the total at 305,000, down 8.9 percent, while moves between provinces made up 33.5 percent at 166,000, down 12.4 percent.

Incheon drew in the most, with 1,956 more people arriving than leaving, followed by South Chungcheong Province with 1,032 and North Chungcheong Province with 830. Seoul posted the largest net outflow at 2,359, ahead of the newly merged Gwangju-South Jeolla region at 531 and Busan at 401. Measured against population, Incheon again led with a net migration rate of 0.8 percent, while Sejong recorded the steepest net outflow rate at 0.9 percent, followed by Ulsan and Jeju at 0.4 percent each.

The third quarter showed the same downward trend. Migration totaled 1.383 million people in the July-September period, down 10.2 percent, or 158,000, from a year earlier, with the quarterly rate at 10.8 percent, down 1.2 percentage points. Over the quarter, Gyeonggi Province recorded the largest net inflow at 10,062 people and Incheon the second largest at 6,773, while Seoul posted the biggest net outflow at 11,368.

By age, people in their 30s made up the largest group of movers in the third quarter at 322,000, followed by those in their 20s at 303,000. Migration rates were highest among those in their 20s at 21.8 percent and those in their 30s at 19.1 percent, and both the number of movers and the rates declined across every age group compared with a year earlier.

The office said the figures may differ from actual moves because some relocations go unreported or are filed late or falsely, and that totals may not match the sum of subcategories because of rounding.