▲ View of Jeju City. Photo courtesy visitjeju.net

Jeju’s population grew at a rate of around 16 times higher than the national average in 2017, according to the results of the Jeju Social Survey, announced on Dec. 19.

While the national average growth rate stood at 0.17 percent, Jeju’s population grew 2.6 percent during the year. In total, the net increase was 17,582 people, meaning the overall population hit 678,772.

Of this growth, the rate of natural increase — births minus deaths — stood at 1,299 people. The rest of the population rise was made up of people migrating from other areas. Around 2,000 of these came from other countries.

The survey found that the most common reason for moving to Jeju was for work. Although, wanting to live in a new environment and accompanying family were also popular reasons.

Of those who came to Jeju, many reported high satisfaction in happiness and the natural environment. People were less satisfied with economic activity, however.

This most significant policy demand revealed by the survey was “job creation” which was favored by 53 percent of people. This beat out “prioritize the environment” which was favored by 30.5 percent of people.

Those coming to the island to visit will be happy to know that almost 60 percent of people thought the public transportation system improved following the mass changes brought in during 2017.