인구감소지역, 2월에 잠깐 머문 사람이 등록 주민의 4.3배
In Korea's Depopulating Regions, Short-Term Stayers Outnumbered Residents 4.3 to 1 in February
Part of the August 5, 2026 daily edition
지난 7월 30일 국가데이터처가 올해 1월부터 3월까지의 ’생활인구’를 발표했습니다. 생활인구는 그 지역에 등록된 주민에, 관광이나 통근 등으로 잠깐 머문 사람을 더한 것입니다. ’인구감소지역’으로 정해진 전국 89곳에서는 2월 생활인구가 2582만 명으로 석 달 중 가장 많았습니다. 2월에는 등록된 주민이 484만 명이었지만, 잠깐 머문 사람은 2098만 명으로 주민의 약 4.3배였습니다. 2월 생활인구는 1년 전 같은 달보다 560만 명 늘었는데, 설 연휴에 오가는 사람이 많았기 때문이라고 합니다. 잠깐 머문 사람들은 그 지역에서 한 사람당 평균 12만 7000원을 카드로 썼습니다.
Translation
On July 30, Korea's Ministry of Data and Statistics released the "living population" figures for January through March of this year. The living population is the residents registered in an area plus the people who stayed there for a short time for tourism, commuting and so on. In the 89 places nationwide designated as "depopulating regions", the living population was highest in February, at 25.82 million, out of the three months. In February the registered residents numbered 4.84 million, while the people staying briefly numbered 20.98 million — about 4.3 times the number of registered residents. February's living population was 5.6 million higher than in the same month a year earlier, and this is said to be because many people traveled during the Lunar New Year holiday. The people who stayed briefly spent an average of 127,000 won per person by card in those regions.
Vocabulary
- 생활인구명사 (noun)living population (registered residents plus people staying in the area)
- 인구감소지역명사 (noun)depopulating region (an officially designated area losing population)
- 주민명사 (noun)resident, local inhabitant
- 머물다동사 (verb)to stay, to remain (in a place)
- 통근명사 (noun)commuting (to work)
- 연휴명사 (noun)holiday break, run of consecutive holidays
- 평균명사 (noun)average
Grammar points
-(으)ㄴ/는 것the thing that; what …
Adding 는 것 (present) or -(으)ㄴ 것 (past/completed) to a verb turns the whole clause into a noun: "the thing that …". The article uses the past form in 더한 것입니다 — literally "it is the thing you get by adding them together" — to explain what the living population is made of.
Example: 제가 어제 산 것은 작은 우산입니다.
What I bought yesterday is a small umbrella.
-기 때문이다 (-기 때문에)it is because …
-기 때문에 links a reason to a result inside one sentence ("because A, B"). When the reason itself is the main point and comes at the end, it becomes the sentence-final -기 때문입니다 / -기 때문이다, as in the article's 많았기 때문이라고 합니다 ("it is said to be because there were many").
Example: 약속에 늦은 이유는 지하철이 멈췄기 때문입니다.
The reason I was late for the appointment is that the subway stopped.
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