Suicide Remained Leading Cause of Death for Koreans From Teens to 40s
Government data show suicide remained the leading cause of death among Koreans from their teens through their 40s in 2025, even as the overall suicide rate declined. Teenagers were the exception to the broader improvement, recording their highest suicide rate on record.
Suicide remained the leading cause of death among South Koreans from their teens through their 40s in 2025, while cancer ranked first beginning with people in their 50s, newly released government data showed Tuesday.
The Ministry of Data and Statistics said suicide accounted for 51.2 percent of deaths among teenagers and 53.5 percent among people in their 20s. Its share then declined to 42.3 percent for those in their 30s and 25.4 percent for people in their 40s.
Suicide mortality rose across those age groups, from 8.6 deaths per 100,000 teenagers to 20.8 among people in their 20s, 28.2 among those in their 30s and 34.3 among people in their 40s. The figures underscore the unequal burden that suicide continues to place on younger Koreans.
The overall picture improved modestly. Korea recorded 14,144 suicide deaths last year, down 728, or 4.9 percent, from 2024. The suicide rate fell 4.7 percent to 27.8 deaths per 100,000 people. Teenagers, however, moved against that trend: their rate increased 7.5 percent to a record 8.6 per 100,000. A ministry official identified psychiatric and family-related problems as major factors cited in annual suicide statistics and other data concerning teenagers.
Korea's age-standardized suicide rate was 24.9 per 100,000 in 2025. That was the highest among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and more than twice the OECD average of 10.9.
Among people in their 50s, cancer overtook suicide as the leading cause of death, accounting for 33.7 percent of deaths and a mortality rate of 97.2 per 100,000. Cancer also ranked first among people in their 60s and 70s. For those aged 80 and older, cancer remained first with a 16.2 percent share, followed by pneumonia at 11.9 percent and heart disease at 10.3 percent.
Korea registered 362,968 deaths from all causes in 2025, up 4,399, or 1.2 percent, from the previous year. It was the second-highest annual total on record, behind 2022, when the COVID-19 pandemic pushed deaths to 372,939. Officials partly attributed the persistently high total to rapid population aging. People aged 80 or older accounted for 54.7 percent of all deaths, a share that has risen 13.9 percentage points over the past decade.
Across the entire population, cancer remained the top cause of death. Cancer deaths exceeded 90,000 for the first time, reaching 90,203, followed by heart disease with 33,784 deaths and pneumonia with 30,965. Together, those three causes made up 42.7 percent of all deaths.
People in Korea who may be at risk of suicide can contact the national Suicide Crisis hotline by dialing 109. Multilingual assistance is available through the Korea Travel Hotline at 1330 and the Danuri helpline at 1577-1366.