Suicide leads causes of death among teens to 40s, cancer from 50s
The number of deaths in Korea last year reached the second-highest level on record, while suicide was the leading cause of death among people in their teens through their 40s, according to data released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Tuesday. Although both the number of suicides and the suicide rate declined from the previous year, teenagers stood out as an exception, with their…
In 2025, death rates in South Korea reached a record high with suicide emerging as the leading cause of mortality for individuals aged 10 to 40, according to data released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics. Despite a slight decline in the overall suicide rate and number of suicides compared to the previous year, teenagers experienced a noteworthy exception, witnessing the highest suicide rate in history.
Meanwhile, cancer became the leading cause of death for those aged 50 and above, signaling a stark contrast in mortality patterns across different age groups. The figures reveal that suicide claimed over half of all lives among Koreans in their teenage years and twenties in 2025, with the share reaching 51.2 percent for teenagers and 53.5 percent for those in their twenties.
This trend then tapered off to 42.3 percent among individuals in their 30s and 25.4 percent among those in their 40s. The suicide death rate exhibited a progressive increase across these age groups, reaching 8.6 per 100,000 among teenagers.
Written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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- Suicide leads causes of death among teens to 40s, cancer from 50s koreatimes.co.kr
