Nearly six-point-13 million people moved within the country last year as the figure remained largely unchanged since dropping significantly in 2022 amid a downturn in the housing market and the aging society.

According to Statistics Korea on Tuesday, six-point-129 million people moved nationwide in 2023, down zero-point-four percent from a year earlier to post a near-49-year low since five-point-298 million in 1974.

The annual tally previously declined by a big margin from seven-point-213 million in 2021 to six-point-152 million in 2022.

An official at the state agency said the number of people moving began to rise in the second half of 2023, which coincides with a rise in real estate transactions.

The latest decline is also attributed to the aging society, as the moving rate tends to be higher among people in their 20s and 30s, which showed higher rates of 22-point-eight and 20-point-one percent, respectively, compared to five-point-seven percent among seniors aged 65 or older.

While Seoul has recorded a net population outflow since 1990, 60-point-five percent of those who moved out of the capital settled in the surrounding Gyeonggi Province.