[2020 Social Survey] The Top Reason for Suicidal Thoughts is "Economic Hardship"

Announcement of Statistics Korea's '2020 Social Survey Results' on the 18th
"I want to commit suicide" increased by 0.1 percentage points compared to 2 years ago

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] The main reason for suicidal impulses in South Korea was identified as 'economic difficulties.'

The Statistics Korea announced the '2020 Social Survey Results' on the 18th. This survey was conducted on about 38,000 household members aged 13 and older in May. The survey period was 16 days, from May 13 to May 28.

Among all reasons for suicidal impulses, economic difficulties accounted for the highest proportion (38.2%). Illness/disability (19.0%) and loneliness/isolation (13.4%) followed. For both men and women, economic difficulties and illness/disability were the biggest factors. Next, loneliness/isolation (12.9%) was the main reason for men, while family discord (16.1%) was the main reason for women.

The percentage of people who have thought about wanting to commit suicide at least once in the past year was 5.2%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points compared to two years ago. Regarding reasons for suicidal impulses, teenagers cited academic performance and school admission issues, people in their 20s cited workplace problems, those in their 30s to 50s cited economic difficulties, and those aged 60 and over cited illness/disability most frequently.

On the other hand, the overall percentage of people experiencing stress in daily life was 50.5%, a decrease of 3.9 percentage points compared to two years ago. By gender, women experienced stress at 53.4%, which was 5.7 percentage points higher than men.

Stress from the workplace was the highest at 68%, followed by family life (41.0%) and school life (35.2%). Compared to two years ago, stress from school life and workplace life decreased by 14.4 percentage points and 3.8 percentage points respectively, while stress from family life increased by 0.2 percentage points.