The outflow of young people affects regional productivity and innovation capacity by causing a relative aging of the population through changes in regional demographics. In the long term, this could lead to regional imbalances and national inefficiency due to a decline in regional potential. Therefore, the outflow of the youth population is a critical issue not only at the regional level but also at the national level.

Despite various policies aimed at attracting young people, the outflow of young people from non-metropolitan areas still exceeds the inflow of young people, meaning that young people who move into the region often leave without establishing roots. While the temporary stay of young people may have a positive impact on the local economy in the short term, such as by increasing local consumption, the potential for them to leave at any time means that the expected impact in the medium to long term is expected to be minimal. Not only are the budgets invested to attract young people ineffective, but the more young people leave without staying long, the more the region becomes perceived as unsuitable for settlement. This perception hinders further influx of
young people, and can create a vicious cycle where companies are reluctant to invest in regions with a lack of stable talent. Therefore, while quantitatively attracting young people is crucial, understanding how long they remain in a region and what factors influence their decision-making is crucial for policy effectiveness. This requires a dynamic analysis of youth migration, considering the concept of “settlement,” and policy design based on this analysis.

This study understands youth settlement as a process, not a one-time event, and proposes a virtuous cycle of youth settlement consisting of four stages: Work → Life → Fun → Engagement. Within this structural framework, the purpose of this study is to explore policy directions to encourage stable regional settlement of young people in response to regional population decline and depopulation. To this end, micropanel data are used to analyze various characteristics related to regional migration, including the migration routes and patterns of young people and the characteristics of migrants, from a dynamic perspective. This analysis aims to diagnose the phenomenon of youth regional migration and identify its problems. Next, a “youth-friendliness index” is calculated based on this virtuous cycle of youth settlement. This index is constructed around indicators representing the four elements of the virtuous cycle of youth settlement —Work, Life, Fun, and Engagement —and categorizes them to suggest strategic investment directions for enhancing youth-friendliness in regions.