A government report showed that eight out of 10 deaths in Korea last year were due to chronic diseases.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on Monday published the “2022 Chronic Disease Status and Issues,” which annually provides the basis for establishing the relevant health industry and policies by identifying the current status of major chronic diseases and health risk factors in Korea.

According to the report, deaths due to chronic diseases in Korea accounted for 79.6 percent of the total fatalities in 2021, and the prevalence of major chronic diseases is on the rise.

By disease, cancer accounted for the most deaths among chronic diseases with 26 percent, followed by cardiovascular disease (17 percent), chronic respiratory disease (4.4 percent), and diabetes (2.85 percent).

The report also showed that the prevalence of major chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia was also going up.

While there were no significant changes in the prevalence of major chronic diseases before the Covid-19 outbreak, the report showed that the prevalence has significantly increased since the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020.

The prevalence of hypertension increased by 1.1 percentage points from 27.2 percent in 2019 to 28.3 percent in 2020 after the outbreak of COVID-19, and the prevalence of diabetes increased from 11.8 percent to 13.6 percent and dyslipidemia from 22.3 percent to 23.9 percent during the same period.

Among health risk factors, alcohol consumption, smoking, and obesity management level stagnated or deteriorated.

The smoking rate for adults dropped in 2020 to 20.6 percent, a 6.9 percentage point decrease compared to 2010.

However,  among adults who consumed alcohol, 14.1 percent still drank excessively. This proportaion has remained almost unchanged at a 12-14 percent level over the past decade.

The prevalence of obesity was also 38.3 percent, a significant increase since the outbreak of Covid-19.

Medical expenses for chronic diseases are also on the rise due to an increase in the number of chronic disease patients and  the aging population.

The total treatment cost for chronic diseases last year was 71 trillion won ($49.4 billion), which accounted for 85 percent of the total treatment cost.

Notably, medical expenses for patients over 65 years of age for major chronic diseases stood at 12 trillion won, up a trillion won from the previous year.

KDCA commissioner Peck Kyong-ran emphasized that the burden of death and treatment costs due to chronic diseases was increasing.

“The government urges the public to actively manage their health to form healthy lifestyles such as compliance with preventive management measures for each chronic disease,” Peck said.