Suicide rate rising for older South Korean men

Posted on : 2014-09-24 16:53 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Data show rates of suicide staying steady for women, and more men taking their own lives due to economic troubles
 May 31. (by Kim Sung-gwang
May 31. (by Kim Sung-gwang

By Kim So-youn, staff reporter

The suicide rate is rising sharply for older South Korean men, Statistics Korea data show.

Figures from a 2013 report on nationwide causes of death, released by the office on Sept. 23, showed a total of 14,427 suicides that year. The number, which rose by 267 (1.9%) from the previous year, amounted to an average of 39.5 suicides per day.

For more than a decade straight, South Korea has registered the highest suicide rate in the OECD, where the average is 29.1 suicides per 100,000 people.

The rate for men was more than double that of women - a gap that is, if anything, growing. The male rate of 39.8 was up by 1.6 from the year before; the female rate dropped by 0.7 to 17.3.

Another issue is the steep rise in the suicide rate for men as they get older. The average was 5.6 for males aged 10-19 before jumping to 20.9 for ages 20-29, 36.4 for ages 30-39, 47.2 for ages 40-49, 58 for ages 50-59, 64.6 for ages 60-69, 110.4 for ages 70-79, and 168.9 for those 80 or over.

For women, the rate remained relatively steady at 20 for ages 30-39, 17.8 for ages 40-49, 18 for ages 50-59, and 18.4 for ages 60-69, before nearly doubling to 35.4 for ages 70-79.

In addition to the high rate of suicide among senior citizens, rates for men aged 30 to 50 have continued to increase over the past decade. The rate for ages 30-39 was up by 7.1 from 2003; for ages 40-49 and 50-59, the rises were 6.2 and 4.2, respectively.

A 2012 social survey by Statistics Korea found economic problems to be the most common reason cited by men for suicidal impulses, at 44.1%. Other causes included family problems (11.4%), disease/disability (10.9%), and loneliness/isolation (10.3%). For those aged 60 and older, economic difficulties and disease/disability were cited roughly equally as major causes, at 37.4% and 36.3% respectively.

A World Health Organization (WHO) report on suicide prevention notes that while women are more prone to suicidal ideation, men are more likely to actually go through with a suicide - a phenomenon it attributed to men having a stronger tendency toward impulsiveness than women.

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