Nearly 40,000 Koreans took their own lives over the past three years, with the suicide rate increasing among the younger generation, data showed Wednesday.
A total of 39,453 people killed themselves from 2020 to 2022, according to data from the health ministry and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency submitted to Rep. Baek Jong-hean of the ruling People Power Party.
The tally was greater than the 32,156 COVID-19 deaths recorded over the same period.
The suicide rate has slightly decreased over the past five years to 25.2 people per population of 100,000 in 2022, but the suicide rate of teenagers and those in their 20s has been showing an upward trend.
The teenage suicide rate rose from 5.8 per 100,000 individuals in 2018 to 7.2 in 2022, while the rate for those in their 20s rose from 17.6 to 21.4 over the same period.
Last year, 36,754 people visited an emergency room after hurting themselves or trying to take their own lives, up 68 percent from 21,875 in 2012.
"The government should declare suicide as a national disaster and put in all-out efforts to fight it," Baek said. »
