South Korea's suicide rate per 100,000 people compared to other countries, World Health Organization, 2016. Scholar Peeter Värnik claims that a simple majority of total suicides occur in just six countries, South Korea one of them.[1]The most recent available data on OECD countries' suicide rates per 100 000 persons (November 2, 2022). South Korea has the highest rate in the OECD.[2]
Suicide in South Korea occurs at the 12th highest rate in the world. South Korea has the highest recorded suicide rate in the OECD.[3][4][5] In South Korea, it is estimated to affect 0.02 percent of the population by the WHO. In 2012, suicide was the fourth-highest cause of death.[6] The suicide rate has consistently declined between 2012 and 2019, the year when the latest data are available.
The high recorded suicide rates compared to other countries in the developed world are exacerbated by the prevalence of suicide among the elderly. One factor of suicide among elderly South Koreans is due to the amount of relative poverty among senior citizens in South Korea, even though it has been consistently declining since 2011. Combined with a poorly-funded social safety net for the elderly, this can result in them dying by suicide to not be a financial burden on their families, since the traditional social structure in which children looked after their parents in their old age has largely disappeared in the 21st century.[7][8]
As a result, people living in rural areas tend to have higher suicide rates. This is due to self-reported high rates of elderly discrimination, especially when applying for jobs, with 85.7% of those in their 50s self-reporting discrimination.[9] Age discrimination also directly correlates to suicide, on top of influencing poverty rates.[10] Suicide is the number one cause of death among South Koreans aged 10 to 39.[11][12] This is in line with most OECD countries.
Proactive government efforts to decrease the rate have shown effectiveness in 2014, when there were 27.3 suicides per 100,000 people, a 4.1% decline from the previous year (28.5 people) and the lowest in six years since 2008's 26.0 people.[13][14]
^Värnik, Peeter (2012). "Suicide in the World". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 9 (3): 760–771. doi:10.3390/ijerph9030760. PMC 3367275. PMID 22690161.
^"Suicide rates". OEXD.
^Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Why South Korea has high suicide rates". YouTube.
^"Suicide rates, age standardized - Data by country". World Health Organization. 2015. Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
^Evans, Stephen (5 November 2015). "Korea's hidden problem: Suicidal defectors". BBC News. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: British Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2016. South Korea consistently has the highest suicide rate of all the 34 industrialized countries in the OECD.
^"Why South Koreans are killing themselves in droves". Salon. March 16, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-03-16.
^Se-woong Koo, "No Country For Old People" Archived 2016-08-25 at the Wayback Machine (24 September 2014), Korea Exposé.
^Kathy Novak (October 23, 2015). "'Forgotten': South Korea's elderly struggle to get by". CNN. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
^"Age discrimination rife in Korea despite legislation". The Korea Herald. March 27, 2012. Archived from the original on July 23, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
^J. Lee; J. Yang; J. Lyu (June 30, 2017). "Suicide Among the Elderly in Korea: A Meta-Analysis". Innovation in Aging. 1 (suppl_1): 419. doi:10.1093/geroni/igx004.1507. PMC 6244789.
^Kirk, Donald. "What 'Korean Miracle'? 'Hell Joseon' Is More Like It As Economy Flounders". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2018-06-09.
^"Suicide, No.1 cause of deaths in Koreans aged 10-39". 27 September 2022. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
^"지난해 한국 자살률 소폭 감소...여전히 OECD 1위". 2015-09-23. Archived from the original on 2019-10-03. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
^Kim, Kristen (12 June 2015). "Attitudes toward suicide among college students in South Korea and the United States". International Journal of Mental Health Systems. 8 (1): 17. doi:10.1186/1752-4458-8-17. PMC 4025558. PMID 24843383.
and 21 Related for: Suicide in South Korea information
Mental health issues are prevalent inSouthKorea, with the highest suicide rate in the OECD and the highest rate of hospitalizations for mental illness...
result insuicide if not taken seriously. SuicideinSouthKorea is a serious and widespread problem. The suicide rate was the highest in the OECD in 2012...
guide to SouthKorea: SouthKorea – densely populated sovereign presidential republic located on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula in East Asia...
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people inSouthKorea face prejudice, discrimination, and other barriers to social inclusion not experienced...
and "N-po" respectively. SouthKorea also has the highest suicide rate in the OECD and the wider developed world. InSouthKorea, a variety of different...
LGBT identity. SouthKorea has the 10th highest rate of suicidein the world and the second in the OECD. Within these rates, suicide is the primary cause...
and gender as the triggering suicide. According to research study results from SouthKorea, the probability of suicide significantly increased between...
SouthKorea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and borders North...
Education inSouthKorea is provided by both public schools and private schools. Both types of schools receive funding from the government, although the...
death, ruled as a possible suicide on November 24, 2019, brought worldwide attention to sexual crimes against women inSouthKorea, one of which was the usage...
SouthKorea. "Korean Air Flight 858". X-Ray Screener. United Kingdom. Retrieved October 15, 2020. "Young Fashion Model Found Dead in Apparent Suicide"...
highest in the EU and the second highest in the OECD (after SouthKorea). The suicide rate as of 2022 was 18.6 suicides per 100,000 persons. In 1990s,...
InSouthKorea, platform screen doors reduced the number of suicides by 89 per cent. CCTV cameras can be used to identify risk factors for suicide like...
countries by estimated suicide rates as published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other sources. In many countries, suicide rates are underreported...
SouthKorea is 5th largest export economy in the world and the 6th economic complexity according to Economic Complexity Index (ECI) with the top export...
credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database unless stated otherwise. SuicideinSouthKorea "Goblin" was digitally released...
Korean drama (Korean: 한국 드라마; RR: Han-guk deurama), also known as Koreanovela or K-drama, refers to Korean-language television shows made inSouth Korea...
been talks about introducing the stricter laws in cyberspace. A famous celebrity's suicideinSouthKorea, triggered the controversies once again as to...
Global Information
