The number of deaths in South Korea reached a record high last year as temporary factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic, combined with long-term issues including the country's aging population resulted in more people dying of illness.
The total number of deaths last year increased 17.4 percent to 372,939 according to the '2022 Cause of Death Statistics' data released on Thursday by Statistics Korea, a government body. This is the highest number on record since the government body started compiling cause-of-death statistics in 1983.
The death rate, which refers to the number of deaths per 100,000 people, rose to 727.6 from 618.9 in 2021. Male death rates increased 14.5 percent to 769.2, while female death rate was up 21.2 percent to 686.2 during the same period.
Cancer was the leading cause of death for both men and women, with men dying from cancer at a rate 1.6 times higher than women. In terms of cancer mortality rates - the number of deaths by cancer per 100,000 people - lung cancer (36.3) ranked the highest followed by liver cancer (19.9), colorectal cancer (17.9), pancreatic cancer (14.3), and stomach cancer (13.9).
The onset of Covid-19 caused 31,280 deaths last year, making it the third leading cause of death after cancer and heart disease. Deaths due to Covid-19 accounted for 8.4 percent of all deaths. This was an increase of 26,250 (522.8 percent) from the previous year, with the highest death rate among those aged 80 and over at 946.
"The number of deaths surged in March and April after the Omicron variant started spreading in February of last year," said Lim Young-il, head of Statistics Korea's Population Trends Division.
"In March alone, the number of deaths from Covid-19 exceeded 10,000. We are attributing this phenomenon to the spread of Omicron."
The top ten causes of death also included pneumonia, cerebrovascular disease, suicide, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, hypertension, and liver disease. The top 10 causes of death accounted for 67.4 percent of all deaths.
Suicide death rates were down 3.2 percent to 25.2, while dementia death rates were up 36.8 percent to 27.6 from the previous year.
This article was originally published on Sep. 21, 2023.