By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter

The number of South Koreans who moved to other towns from January to March this year stood at 2.3 million, the smallest first-quarter figure in six years since the 1998 Asian currency crisis.

The prolonged economic slump has discouraged people from moving to other residential areas, the National Statistical Office (NSO) said yesterday.

The migration figure was down 159,000, or 6.5 percent, from the first quarter of 2004.

And the migration ratio came to 4.7 percent, meaning 47 people in 1,000 changed their residential districts in the three months to March, the lowest ratio since 4.5 percent recorded in the first quarter of 1998.

But the ratio was up from 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter of last year as many people tend to move in March, the NSO said.

``The fall in the migration ratio reflects the continuing difficult economic conditions. The majority of people who change their residencies are college graduates seeking jobs in other areas,’’ NSO official Rhew Bo-sun said.

A large number of youth have not been able to find jobs as many domestic companies were reluctant to hire new workers due to the sluggish domestic economy.

With a fewer jobs being created this year, many young job seekers stayed at their family homes, leading to a drop in the number of people who change their districts.

The number of people who moved with the same cities and provinces was 1.53 million, down 91,000 from a year earlier, while 771,000 people moved to another city or province, down 68,000.

A total of 170,000 people moved into Seoul, Inchon and Kyonggi Province in the first quarter, while 122,000 left the metropolitan area.

Kyonggi Province posted a net influx in population of 45,000.

The central area of the nation, including Chungchong and Kangwon Provinces, saw its population decline by 9,006 during the three-months period.

The NSO said that many people, who had previously moved to South Chungchong Province in the hope of realizing handsome returns on property investment there, returned to the Seoul metropolitan area due to a series of government’s anti-speculation measures on the real estate market.

About 18,000 people moved out of the Cholla provinces during the three-months period and the net outflow from Kyongsang provinces amounted to 20,000.

By city, a 21,216 net migration increase was recorded in Yongin city in Kyonggi Province, keeping the No. 1 spot since 2000, followed by Hwasung city in Kyonggi Province with 9,302 people.

The outflow from Pukcheju-kun in Cheju Province topped the chart with 3,275 people leaving the district in the first quarter of the year, followed by Nowon-gu in Seoul with 2,739 and Suwon city in Kyonggi Province with 2,732.

leehs@koreatimes.co.kr