Record number of deaths hit Korea in 2022

A record number of deaths — 372,939 — hit Korea last year as COVID-19 pandemic persisted back then took away lives of the elderly people who are susceptible to infectious diseases, data showed on Thursday.

Released by Statistics Korea, the data showed the total number of deaths reported in 2022 was up 17.4 percent from a year earlier and marked the highest year-onyear increase since the agency began compiling relevant data in 1983.

The last year’s figure also surpassed the 300,000 mark for the third straight year since 2020 when the world was plagued by the pandemic.

COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in Korea after cancer and heart diseases.

Cancer took up 83,378, or 22.4 percent of all deaths reported, while heart disease accounted for 33,715, or 9 percent.

While the pandemic accounted for 31,280 or 8.4 percent of the 2022 deaths, the figure marked a steep increase from a year earlier 521.9 percent.

By age groups, those aged 80 or older made up 53.8 percent of the total number of deaths, ticking up 3.8 percentage points from a year earlier and 17 percentage points compared to 2012.

Those aged between 60 and 79 accounted for 33.7 percent of all deaths, while those in their 40s and 50s took up 10.2 percent, and the rest of the younger groups at 2.4 percent.

Meanwhile, suicide was the sixth-largest cause of death last year with a total of 12,906 people took their own lives in 2022. The figure was down 3.3 percent from a year earlier.

For those aged 10 to 39, suicide, however, the main cause of death, and the second leading cause of death for people in their 40s and 50s.

The suicide rate per 100,000 people stood at 22.6 in 2022, much higher than the 10.6 average among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).