Cancer has been the leading cause of death for Koreans since 2006, statistics showed Friday.

A report by Statistics Korea revealed that of cancer deaths, lung cancer claimed the most lives in 2016 with 35.1 deaths per 100,000 people, followed by liver cancer (21.5 people), colon cancer (16.5 people), gastric cancer (16.2 people) and pancreatic cancer (11.0 people).

The number of colon cancer-related deaths surpassed the number of gastric cancer deaths for the first time in 1983 and has remained so, the report said.

The mortality rates of people with liver, gastric, and uterine cancers have fallen 3 percent, 3.4 percent, and 5.7 percent, respectively, since 2015.

The death rate for lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, and liver cancer increased 2.9 percent, 14.6 percent, and 11.6 percent, respectively, in the same period, according to the report.

Men were more likely to die from cancer, with the mortality rate for men being 1.6 times higher than women’s. Out of 100,000 people, 52.2 males and 18.1 females died from lung cancer. Statistics also showed higher mortality rates in men with liver cancer (31.5 men versus 11.6 women).

By age group, gastric cancer was the leading cause of death for those in their 30s, liver cancer for those in their 40s and 50s, and lung cancer for those older than 60, the report said.

The mortality rates for cancer-related illnesses have risen 0.8 percent for men and 2.4 percent for women since 2015, the report said.

Suicide was the leading cause of death for those in their teens to 30s and the second leading cause of death for those in the 40s to 50s.

Korea still had the highest suicide rate among OECD countries last year with a total of 13,092 people committing suicide in the last year alone.

The death rate had risen 17.5 percent in the past decade with about 35 people committing suicide every day, the report said.