Nearly 40,000 South Koreans took their own lives over the past three years, with the suicide rate increasing among the younger generation, data showed.
A total of 39,453 people killed themselves from 2020 to 2022, according to data from the Health Ministry and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency submitted to Rep. Baek Jong-hean of the ruling People Power Party.
The tally of suicides here was greater than the 32,156 deaths due to COVID-19 recorded over the same period here.
Korea’s overall suicide rate has slightly declined over the past five years from 28.6 to 25.2 per 100,000 people from 2018 to 2022, but the suicide rate for teenagers and those in their 20s has been rising.
The teen suicide rate rose from 5.8 per 100,000 individuals in 2018 to 7.2 in 2022, while the rate for those in their 20s rose from 17.6 to 21.4 over the same period. (Yonhap)
By Nam Kyung-don (
don@heraldcorp.com)
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