Suicide fourth leading cause of death among South Koreans
Seoul (AsiaNews) South Korea's National Statistical Office (NSO) has reported that in 2004 suicide was the fourth leading cause of death in the country, up from ninth place ten years ago. Last year the number of people who took their own lives reached the all-time high of 12,000 amid prolonged economic crisis.
"South Korea's suicide death rate is likely to be the highest among the OECD member nations last year even though there is no data on other countries. The country is expected to stay on the top of the list for a while," an NSO official said.
In 2003, the suicide death rate, measured as the number of suicides per 100,000 people, was 24 for South Korea, the highest among OECD countries. Hungary came in second with 22.6 followed by Japan with 19.1 and Finland with 18.4.
"The fast pace of social change in the country and stagnant business conditions were the main contributors to an increase in suicides last year,'' the official noted, adding that the country is likely to continue topping the list for some time to come.
Many senior citizens also took their lives, especially those who had not fully prepared for old age and were not properly supported by their children. But what was more alarming is that suicide was the main causes of death last year for people in their 20s and 30s, i.e. those who are supposed to be actively participating in economic activities.
About 20.6 people in their 30s out of 100,000 decided to take their own lives mainly because of the worsening economic conditions aggravated by the prolonged business downturn.
Cancer however remained the leading killer among South Koreans in 2004 accounting for 26.3 per cent of the total 246,000 deaths, or 65,000 people, in 2004.
Despite the grim picture, the overall death rate dropped last year, going from 673 deaths per day or 508.8 per 100,000 in 2003 to 672 per day or 506.9 per 100,000 in 2004.
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12/02/2016 15:14
23/12/2022 14:22
