▲ Shoppers look around baby items at a department store in Seoul, in this file photo taken June 25, 2026. (Yonhap)

By Kang Yoon-seung

SEOUL, July 16 (Yonhap) -- More than half of newlywed couples relocated to other cities or regions after marriage, data showed Thursday, with most of them heading to the greater Seoul area.

According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, 57.1 percent of the newlywed couples relocated to other areas, with 61.6 percent of those who moved settling in Seoul or the surrounding Gyeonggi Province.

The survey covered first-married couples in which the husband was born between 1984 and 1990 and married at age 32, while the wife was born between 1985 and 1991 and married at age 31.

The southeast, northeast and Chungcheong regions accounted for 14 percent, 10.6 percent and 10.3 percent of the total, respectively.

The data also showed that 69.3 percent of couples who did not relocate had a baby within three years of marriage, compared with 68.2 percent of those who relocated.

Couples who did not relocate were also more likely to own a home within three years of marriage, at 33.9 percent, compared with 27.5 percent of those who relocated.

"The research is significant as it provided a comprehensive review of young people's regional relocation, settlement, employment, childbirth and home ownership, offering basic data to address low birth rates and regional decline," the data ministry said.

The government aims to come up with data-based population and regional policies by incorporating additional information, including personal debt records, into future analyses, it added.

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