University students are also increasingly opting to live with their parents rather than move to the metropolitan area to attend classes, which are now mainly done remotely. The capital is likely to continue to experience a greater outflow than an inflow as people become more interested in relocating to rural areas to avoid the pandemic, some experts said. "More people than ever are checking whether companies offer a remote working option when they are job hunting," said Yutaka Okada, a senior researcher at Mizuho Research Institute who is well-versed in issues of population and regional revitalization. "The trend of the outflow surpassing the inflow in Tokyo is likely here to stay." Figures compiled by the internal affairs ministry based on residence registration show that 31,257 people moved out of the capital in July, almost the same as a year earlier. The number of people moving to Tokyo fell by about 13 per cent year on year to 28,735 in the same month. Until this past April, the inflow to the capital had exceeded the outflow since July 2013. Other prefectures in July also experienced more people moving out than moving in. Kanagawa's outflow surpassed the inflow by 679, while Aichi's outflow exceeded the inflow by 587.