Recent data indicates that eight out of every 100 homes in the country are abandoned amid a shrinking population.

According to data from the state-run Korea Research Institute for Construction Policy, based on Statistics Korea’s latest housing census, the number of unoccupied homes reached one-point-53 million by the end of 2023.

This represents a five-point-seven percent increase from 2022 and a 43-point-six percent jump compared with 2015.

The number of vacant homes steadily increased from one-point-07 million in 2015 to one-point-52 million in 2019 before dipping to one-point-39 million in 2021 and rebounding the following year.

Gyeonggi Province accounted for the largest share of vacant homes at 18-point-six percent, followed by South Gyeongsang Province at eight-point-seven percent and North Gyeongsang Province at eight-point-four percent.