S. Korea's population mobility keeps falling for 16 months

South Korea's population mobility has kept falling for 16 straight months last month owing to the lacklustre housing market and the ageing population, statistical office data showed on Wednesday.

The number of people who changed their residence stood at 483,000 in April, down 18.7 per cent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.

It continued to slide for 16 months in a row since January last year as the ageing population refrained from moving to other regions.

The housing market downturn also contributed to the lower mobility.

The number of people aged 15-29 declined by 197,000, and those in their 30s and 40s reduced by 132,000 and 72,000 respectively in April.

The number of those in their 50s and 60s expanded by 38,000 and 568,000 each last month.

The combined number of housing transactions was 97,000 nationwide in February and March, down 48.9 per cent from the same period last year.

The population mobility rate, or the number of those who relocated to different parts of the country per 100 people.

This has reached the lowest 11.4 per cent in April since data began to be compiled in 2000.