As of 2024, among people who moved into Seoul, seven out of 10 were young adults ages 19 to 39. Their main reason for coming to Seoul was found to be jobs.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government on the 22nd released the results of an analysis of population movements that comprehensively examined structural changes such as the scale and direction of moves to and from Seoul, reasons for moving in, and movement characteristics by age group. The analysis covers information from 2001 to 2024, a span of 24 years.
According to the analysis, over the past 24 years, "net migration," which subtracts the number of people moving out from those moving into Seoul, remained a net outflow, with more people leaving than entering. However, the net outflow in 2024 was 44,692, down from the net outflow of 113,949 in 2001.
Among new arrivals to Seoul, the share of moves within the region fell from 72.2% in 2001 to 64.9% in 2024. By contrast, the share of people moving to Seoul from other provinces rose from 27.8% to 35.1% over the same period.
In particular, since 2019, inflows of people in their 20s and 30s into Seoul have increased. The number of people coming to Seoul from other provinces has been growing faster than the number leaving Seoul for other provinces. In 2012, net outflow among young adults was 20,222, but since 2019, except for 2021, it has turned to a net inflow.
As of 2024, among people who moved to Seoul from other provinces, the Seoul metropolitan area accounted for the largest share at 60.7%, including Gyeonggi Province (53%) and Incheon (7.7%). Based on reasons for moving from Gyeonggi Province to Seoul, jobs accounted for 30.6% and dwellings accounted for 20.5%. Among people in their 20s and 30s, 39.2% moved from Gyeonggi Province to Seoul for jobs (workplaces).
In addition, as of 2024, one-person moves accounted for 79.8% of moves into Seoul was found. Among one-person movers to Seoul, young adults made up 68.8%, the vast majority.
Kang Ok-hyeon, director of Seoul's Digital City Bureau, said, "We will improve the precision of policy analysis and urban strategy development in line with the trend of expanding individual moves and the inflow of young adults."