By Bae Keun-min
Staff Reporter

The number of suicides hit a record high of 11,000 last year to become the fifth-largest cause of death as 24 out of 100,000 people took their own lives.

South Korea ranked fourth in the number of deaths per 100,000 persons among the 30 countries of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), trailing Hungary, Japan and Finland.

The National Statistical Office (NSO) on Wednesday reported that 4.4 percent, or 11,000, of the 246,000 deaths which occurred last year, were reported as suicides. It means that each day about 30 Koreans took their own lives. The suicide rate has steadily increased for the past three straight years.

For the decade up to last year, the number of suicides jumped 2.3-fold. In 1993, 10.6 persons out of every 100,000 took their own lives, the NSO reported.

Deaths by suicide stood at 14.1 per 100,000 persons in 1996 and soared to 19.9 in 1998, when the currency crisis hit the nation. The figure was at 16.1 in 1999, 14.6 in 2000, 15.5 in 2001 and 19.1 in 2002.

What is more problematic is that suicide topped the causes of deaths for 20- and 30-somethings last year.

The suicidal death rate, the number of suicides per 100,000 people, was 18.7 for South Korea in 2002, behind only Hungary (23.2), Japan (19.1) and Finland (18.8), according to the OECD.

An NSO official said the fast pace of social change in the country, together with economic conditions may be contributors to the increase in suicides. He added that suicides were on the rise for senior citizens who had not fully prepared for old age and were not properly supported by their children.

Last year, a total of 246,000 people passed away last year, equivalent to 673 deaths per day. The daily average decreased by two persons from 2002.

The death rate from cancer surged 21.2 percent over the past decade, and respiratory diseases such as pneumonia and asthma have also increased.

The crude death rate, the number of deaths per 100,000 people, shrank by 3.4 to 508.8 people last year, due to a decrease in deaths of people aged less than 60, the NSO said.

Cancer was the No.1 cause of death, accounting for 25.9 percent of the total deaths last year, or 64,000 people, followed by blood vessel-related diseases in the brain (14.8 percent), heart diseases (7 percent), diabetes (4.9 percent) and suicide (4.4 percent).

Of the 10 major factors, the number of deaths from cancer was the largest as it topped 131.8 per 100,000 persons, up 1.1 from 2002 and 21.2 from a decade ago. By age, people aged over 40 mostly died of cancer, while suicide was the main cause of death for youth in their 20s and 30s.

One out of every four dead, or 26 percent of the total deceased, died of cancer. The number of deaths from lung cancer topped 26.4 per 100,000 people, with 24.3 deaths linked to stomach cancer, 22.8 deaths to liver cancer, 11.4 deaths to large intestine cancer and 6.2 deaths to pancreatic cancer.

Compared to 10 years ago, lung cancer deaths surged by nine, with large intestine cancer and pancreas cancer increasing by 6.1 and 2.2 deaths, respectively.

kenbae@koreatimes.co.kr