South Korea's suicide rate rises 10% from 37 to 41 people per day this year

South Korea has the highest suicide rate in the world, and a survey revealed that through May this year, the number of deaths by suicide had increased by about 10 percent compared to the same period last year.
On the 6th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea held the "7th Public-Public Consultation on Life Respect Policy" at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul.
At the conference, suicide trends from last year to the present and corresponding government policies were reported. According to the Welfare Department, the number of deaths by suicide from January to May this year was
The total number of suicides was 6,375, up 10.1% from the same period last year. The provisional figure for the total number of suicides in 2023 is 13,770.
The government is working to combat the effects of the COVID-19 virus outbreak, including social isolation, economic hardship, and depression.
The analysis also concluded that factors such as increased anxiety have directly or indirectly influenced the increase in the number of suicides. The study also noted that copycat suicides increased for seven to eight weeks after the suicide of a celebrity at the end of last year.
The number of suicides and suicide rate in South Korea is expected to decline until 2022 after recording 14,427 deaths and 28.5 deaths per 100,000 people in 2013.
However, the provisional figure of 13,770 suicides last year was an increase of 864 (6.7%) from the previous year. This is the highest number of deaths since 2020.
South Korea's suicide rate remains the highest among OECD member states.
According to Statistics Korea, the suicide rate per 100,000 age-standardized population in 2020 was 24.1.
This is more than double the OECD average (10.7 people) and the only country to exceed 20 people.
There was a difference of 5.6 people between Japan and second-place Lithuania (18.5 people).
The council expects a serious situation in which the total number of suicides this year will increase from last year.
The main issues for the government are to publicize messages on suicide prevention practices, improve the reporting environment to prevent copycat suicides, and make suicide prevention education mandatory.
This includes strengthening efforts to identify high-risk groups, such as those with chronic conditions or those who have attempted suicide.