By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter
The suicide rate in Korea has doubled in a decade, making Korea the highest suicide-rate country among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries.
According to the National Statistical Office (NSO), the number of those who took their lives last year totaled 12,174, meaning 33.3 people killed themselves daily on average.
It means 24.8 of every 100,000 people committed suicide last year, compared with 10.1 in the United States, 19.1 in Japan, and six in the United Kingdom.
The figure has nearly doubled since 1997, when 13 of every 100,000 people took their lives.
Suicide was the fourth biggest cause of death here last year, following cancer, cerebrovascular disease and heart disease. Suicide was ranked 8th on the list in 1997.
It was the top cause of death among those in their 20s and 30s and the second biggest reason for death among teenagers and those in their 40s.
Suicide among senior citizens was also serious. The number of people in their 70s who took their lives totaled 78.5 out of every 100,000.
The statistical office said suicide has to do with economic factors, the family and the community.
According to the office, the number of people who died last year totaled 244,874, amounting to 671 deaths everyday.
The biggest cause of death was cancer, responsible for 27.6 percent of all deaths, followed by cerebrovascular disease with 12 percent, and heart disease with 8.8 percent. For every 100,000 people, 137.5 died of cancer, up from 112.7 a decade ago.
Among the different types of cancer, lung cancer was the biggest cause, accounting for 29.1 per 100,000 deaths. Other major cause of death for Koreans included liver cancer and stomach cancer.
The infant death rate was small at 3.5 for every 1,000 newborns.