The number of suicides in South Korea last year reached approximately 14,000, marking an 8.3% increase compared to the previous year.
The suicide mortality rate, which indicates the number of suicides per 100,000 people, was 27.3, an 8.5% increase from the previous year and the highest among OECD countries.
According to the 2023 “Statistics on Causes of Death” released by Statistics Korea on October 4, the number of suicides last year was 13,978, an increase of 1,072 (8.3%) compared to the previous year. The daily average number of suicides was 38.3.
The suicide mortality rate per 100,000 people was 27.3, which is an increase of 2.2 (8.5%) from the previous year.
The suicide rate rose most significantly among those in their 60s (13.6%), followed by those in their 50s (12.1%) and teenagers (10.4%), while the rate decreased only among those aged 80 and older (-1.9%).
Suicide ranked as the leading cause of death for people in their teens to 30s and was the second leading cause of death for those in their 40s and 50s.
In a briefing, Im Young Il, head of the Population Trends Division at Statistics Korea, said, “During the COVID-19 period, people were socially isolated, and even after that period ended, the economic hardships continued. It is believed that this relative deprivation has contributed to the increase in suicides.”
When comparing age-standardized suicide rates among OECD countries (per 100,000 people), South Korea’s rate was 24.8 as of last year, significantly higher than the OECD average of 10.7. South Korea had the highest rate among OECD countries, with a substantial gap compared to second-placed Lithuania (17.1 in 2022).
Meanwhile, the total number of deaths in South Korea last year was 352,511, a decrease of 20,428 (-5.5%) from the previous year.
The crude death rate, which indicates the number of deaths per 100,000 people, was 689.2, down by 38.3 (-5.3%) compared to the previous year.
The top ten causes of death last year included malignant neoplasms (cancer), heart disease, pneumonia, cerebrovascular diseases, intentional self-harm (suicide), Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, hypertensive diseases, sepsis, and COVID-19.
These ten leading causes accounted for 65.6% of all deaths. The top three causes (cancer, heart disease, and pneumonia) made up 41.9% of the total, a 2.2 percentage point increase from the previous year.
Cancer was the leading cause of death for those aged 1-9 and over 40, while it was the second leading cause for those in their teens, 20s, and 30s.
Heart disease ranked second for people in their 60s and 70s and was among the top five causes of death for all age groups except those aged 1-9. Pneumonia ranked second among those aged 80 and above and fourth among those in their 70s, indicating a high prevalence in older age groups.
The causes of death that saw an increase in mortality rate (per 100,000 people) compared to the previous year included sepsis (13.0%), pneumonia (10.4%), intentional self-harm (8.5%), and chronic lower respiratory diseases (5.1%).
In contrast, the causes of death that saw a decrease in mortality rate included COVID-19 (-76.2%), transport accidents (-5.1%), cerebrovascular diseases (-4.6%), and Alzheimer’s disease (-4.2%).