Cancer the leading cause of death in 2013: data

Published : Sept 23, 2014 - 14:33 Updated : Sept 23, 2014 - 14:35

◀ Back to List
More article by this Writer

Cancer remained the leading cause of death in South Korea in 2013, with the death rate from the disease also rising steadily, government data showed Tuesday.

A total of 75,334 people died of cancer last year, which accounted for 28.3 percent of the total deaths reported last year, according to the data provided by Statistics Korea.

Cancer's death rate -- the number of deaths per 100,000 people

-- stood at 149 last year, up from the previous year's 146.5, the data showed.

Cerebrovascular diseases came next with the death rate of 50.3, followed by heart diseases and suicide with the rates of 50.2 and 28.5, the data showed.

Last year, a total of 266,257 people died, down 0.4 percent from a year earlier. The death rate inched down 0.8 percent on-year to 526.6. (Yonhap)