Suicide was the No. 1 cause of South Korean deaths among those aged between 10 and 39, and cancer, among those aged 40 or more, in 2021, government data showed.

According to Statistics Korea’s report on the causes of deaths in 2021, an average of 37 people took their lives per day, and the nation’s suicide rate was the highest among 38 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The number of suicide deaths in Korea increased 1.2 percent on-year to 13,352 in 2021, according to the data.

The suicide death rate, or the number of people who died from suicide per 100,000 population, also went up by 1.2 percent last year, compared to a year earlier.

The suicide rate was the highest in Gangwon Province with 27.3 per 100,000 and the lowest in Sejong with 17.8 per 100,000.

The “age-standardized” suicide rate was 23.6 per 100,000 South Koreans, much higher than the OECD average of 11.1.

Of all 317,680 deaths recorded last year, 26 percent were caused by cancer, 9.9 percent by heart diseases, 7.2 percent by pneumonia, 7.1 percent by cerebrovascular disease, 4.2 percent by suicide, 2.8 percent by diabetes, and 2.5 percent by Alzheimer’s disease.

By age group, suicide cases took up large proportions of deaths among teenagers and people in their 20s and 30s. About 44 percent of teenage deaths were caused by suicide, 56.8 percent among those in their 20s, and 40.6 percent among 30s.

The notable was a significant increase in suicides in their 20s.

Paik Jong-woo, a professor of psychiatry at Kyung Hee University Medical Center and a former head of the Korea Suicide Prevention Center, attributed the high suicide rate among teenagers and Koreans in their 20s to their thoughts of “failing to meet the expectations.”

The Covid-19 pandemic and tight social distancing rules for young people who basically need more outdoor and social activities could have been a significant factor in raising the suicide rate in teens and those in their 20s, he said.

“Stress from social distancing, anxiety about the future, and difficulties in landing a job could have all played together to push up the suicide rate among young Koreans,” Park said.

He urged the government to make it much easier to access mental health treatments.

For example, the government could install mental health clinics that “do not look like clinics” and include mental health in essential healthcare services, he said.

“It’s time for the government to intervene strongly. We cannot solve this problem simply by letting families handle it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Statistics Korea data also showed that cancer was the leading cause of death in people aged 40 or over. The proportion of those who died from cancer was 27.7 percent in the 40s, 35.4 percent in the 50s, 41.4 percent in the 60s, 34.7 percent in the 70s, and 17.1 percent in the 80s.