Korea's Self-Hurt and Suicide Mortality Rate tops OECD Countries
Feb 11, 2025
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According to the 14th Comprehensive National Injury Statistics published by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the 11th, the age-standardized mortality rate (per 100,000 people) due to damage was 34.5 in Korea, similar to the OECD average of 34.7. However, in the case of self-harm and suicide, 19.9 people per 100,000 people, 1.7 times higher than the OECD average of 11.7, ranking first among 38 OECD countries.
Looking at the current status of self-harm and suicide in Korea, more than 70% of patients aged 10 to 49 who died from damage were from self-harm and suicide based on statistics on the cause of death in 2022. According to the emergency room-based suicide attempt follow-up management system, attempts to self-harm and suicide due to addiction were the highest at 69.4%, and the main poisoning substance was 80.9% of the drugs.
This situation is expected to continue. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 13,271 people died of suicide in Korea between January and November last year. The annual figure is likely to be higher than 13,978 in 2023, as more than 1,000 people occur a month. The number of suicide deaths in Korea decreased from 13,352 in 2021 to 12,906 in 2022, and then increased again in 2023.
In order to reduce the number of suicide deaths, the government plans to strengthen support for high-risk groups such as suicide attempters and suicide bereaved families. According to the suicide survey (2013) and psychological autopsy results report (2022), the suicide rate of suicide attempters is about 25 times higher than that of the general public, and the suicide thought rate of suicide bereaved families is about 10 times higher than that of the general public.
The government and local governments plan to strengthen case management services for suicide attempters, while frequently checking and managing those who refuse or lose contact with them, and expanding the targets of treatment costs for young suicide attempters.
In this regard, the Ministry of Health and Welfare held a meeting on the 11th on the suicide prevention project and the national mental investment support project with the heads of 17 provincial governments and mental health officials across the country. It once again guided local governments on the intensive support plan for high-risk suicide groups prepared in December last year and encouraged them to revitalize the nation's mental investment support project. The number of areas subject to one-stop support services for suicide survivors, which support temporary housing, cleaning, administrative and legal processing, will also be expanded from 9 cities last year to 12 cities this year.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
