Photo : YONHAP News
Cancer, heart disease and pneumonia were the three leading causes of death in South Korea last year, with 42 percent of all deaths led by the three health conditions.
According to data by Statistics Korea on Friday, there were 352-thousand-511 deaths in 2023, down 20-thousand-428, or five-point-five percent from a year earlier, due likely to a drop in COVID-19 related deaths.
Cancer was the most prevalent cause of death, accounting for 24-point-two percent of all deaths, followed by heart disease and pneumonia. The three causes together took up 41-point-nine percent, up two-point-two percentage points on-year.
Suicide deaths jumped 13-point-six and 12-point-one percent among those in their 60s and 50s, respectively and the agency said the two age groups are assumed to have experienced increased social isolation, economic and psychological difficulties post-pandemic.
The total number of suicides climbed eight-point-three percent to 13-thousand-978, the highest since 2013, and the suicide rate per 100-thousand people in the country stood at 27-point-three, or eight-point-five percent, the highest among OECD member nations.
COVID-19, on the other hand, fell from third to tenth place on-year on the ranking for causes of death. Suicide jumped eight-point-three percent to rank fifth with 13-thousand-978 deaths, which is the largest number since 2013.