According to a report by the Korean Herald on July 19th, Seoul will experience a net increase in the number of elementary school students in 2025, which is the first time in a decade. The report indicates that this change is mainly due to many families moving into newly developed housing areas and regions near quality schools.
A report released by the renowned Korean education training institution, Gwangju College, on the 19th indicates that by 2025, the number of students transferring to primary schools in the Korean capital will exceed the number of students leaving, with a net increase of 834 students.
Since 2016, Seoul has experienced a net outflow each year. However, this reversal is limited to only 6 of the 25 districts in the capital, and does not reflect growth across the entire city.
Jiangdong District had the highest net inflow, with 1752 people. Next were Jiangnan District with 1331 people, Yangchuan District with 848 people, and Rui Cao District with 795 people. Luyuan District and Songpo District saw smaller increases, of 193 people and 163 people respectively.
The remaining 19 districts reported more students leaving than joining.
J Zhong Lu Academy states that this pattern indicates that households are gathering in areas related to large-scale residential development and stronger educational infrastructure.
“Primary school transfers are often related to real estate development, and from an educational perspective, they may also reflect moves made in consideration of entering junior high school and senior high school,” the academy explained. “The trend towards concentrating in more developed educational areas continues.”
Over time, there has been an opposite trend for families from the Kyunggi-do province who have relocated from Seoul.
In 2025, there was a net outflow of 1,339 primary school students, the largest outflow in ten years. This represents a reversal from the net inflow of 475 students in 2023 and 213 students in 2024.
The reasons for the relocation of individual families are not specified in the data. Transferring to another school may reflect factors such as changes in housing supply, redevelopment, local population structure, and educational choices.
In areas outside the capital region, each district of Chungcheong Province recorded a net inflow of 400 elementary school students, continuing the growth trend for the third consecutive year.
Zhonglu Academy has indicated that expanded enrollment quota in the region and the government's plan to train more doctors outside of Seoul metropolitan area may impact some families' relocation decisions.
At the entire Korean level, according to Yonhap's report at the beginning of this year, due to low fertility rates, the number of children entering primary school in Korea is expected to be less than 300,000 by 2026.
Compared to 2023, the number of new elementary school students in South Korea has decreased by 103,000 people in just three years, a decrease of 25.8%. The South Korean Ministry of Education predicts that the number of new elementary school students will continue to decline, reaching 220,000 by 2031, which is about a 32% reduction compared to 2025.
In addition, this year the total number of middle and primary school students in South Korea is likely to fall below 5 million, reaching 4.837 million. It is expected that the number of middle and primary school students in South Korea will continue to decline, falling below 4 million by 2031, reaching 3.811 million.
