The Main Cause of People's Deaths Aged 10 to 30 Years Is Suicide... The Suicide Rate in Korea Is the Highest Among OECD Countries

Last year, the number of suicides reached 13.352 people.

An increase of 1.2% among people aged 10–30 years takes the first place, and among people aged 40–50 years takes the second place.

The suicide rate is more than twice the OECD average (11.1 people).

PS22092700565 — To commemorate World Suicide Prevention Day on the 10th, a blue light was lit in Seoul on the 4th to symbolize understanding and peace. (Photo: Yonhap News)

Suicide is accepted as the main cause of death for people aged 10 to 30 years. The Republic of Korea has the highest suicide rate among OECD countries.

According to “Statistics of Causes of Death for 2021” published on September 27 by the Statistical Service, last year the number of suicides was 13.352 people. Compared to 2020, the increase was 157 people (1.2%). On average, 36.6 people commit suicide every day.

The suicide rate, which represents the number of suicides per 100,000 of the population, is 26.0, which is 0.3 (1.2%) more than in 2020.

Suicide is in the fifth place among all common causes of death. As for women, last year, among all the common causes of death, suicide took the 7th position. Compared with 2020 (the 8th position), it rose one position higher.

If you look at the age category, suicide took the first place among the causes of death for 10–30-year-olds; for 40–50-year-olds, it took the second place.

The suicide rate among teenagers (10-19 years old) was 7.1, and among 20-year-olds was 23.5, which was 10.1% and 8.5% more than in 2020.

But Hyun Joon, the head of the demographic research branch at the National Statistical Office, said, “The suicide rate among teenagers and 20-year-olds continues to rise, so we need to pay more attention to it in the future.”

The suicide rate among 70-year-olds was 41.8 people, 7.7% more than last year.

If we compare suicide rates by gender, the suicide rate among men (35.9) was 2.2 times higher than among women (16.2). However, last year, the number of suicides among women grew faster than among men. Last year, the number of suicides among men increased by 1.1% to 9193 compared to the previous year, and the number of suicides among women increased by 1.4% to 4159 people.

The suicide rate in Korea is the highest among OECD countries. Compared to the age-standardized suicide rate among OECD countries (the number of suicides per 100,000 population in the OECD), the average is 11.1, and in the Republic of Korea is 23.6 people.

Translated by mevi