The number of South Koreans who moved to different residences in the country rose by the most in three years last month amid rising home transactions, data showed Wednesday. Around 597,000 people changed residences last month, up 18 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. It was the largest figure for any January since 2021, and the growth rate marked the highest level since 2007. The population mobility rate -- the percentage of those relocating per 100 people -- came to 13.8 percent last month, up 2.2 percentage points from the previous year. The increase came as the number of home transactions surged more than 40 percent in the November-December period after a monthslong downturn, officials said. By region, Seoul saw a net outflow of 765 people last month, while Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds the capital, and the northwestern port city of Incheon posted net inflows of 4,954 and 3,373, respectively. In 2023, the number of people who changed residences fell to the lowest level in about 50 years amid population aging and a housing market slump. Source: Yonhap News Agency