Last Year Recorded a Historic High of 370,000 Deaths... 30,000 COVID-19 Deaths Occurred

Statistics Korea Announces 2022 Cause of Death Statistics
Deaths Increased by 55,000 (17.4%) Compared to Previous Year
95% of COVID-19 Deaths Were Aged 60 and Over
'Cancer' Remains the Leading Cause of Death Overall
Suicide is the Leading Cause of Death Among Those in Their 10s to 30s

The temporary screening clinic in front of Seoul Station on February 20 last year, when the number of new COVID-19 cases remained in the 100,000s for the third consecutive day. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

Last year, the number of deaths surpassed 370,000, marking the highest ever recorded since statistics began. This was due to a surge in COVID-19 deaths caused by the spread of the Omicron variant. Although the impact of this temporary factor, an infectious disease, was significant, considering the aging trend, the long-term increase in deaths is expected to continue.

According to the '2022 Cause of Death Statistics' released by Statistics Korea on the 21st, the total number of deaths last year was 372,939, an increase of 55,259 (17.4%) compared to the previous year. The crude death rate also rose from 618.9 to 727.6 per 100,000 people, an increase of 108.7 (17.6%). Deaths among those aged 80 and over accounted for 53.8% of the total, 17% more than ten years ago. Male deaths were 80,088, and female deaths were 120,485.

COVID-19 deaths were recorded at 31,280, an increase of 26,250 from the previous year, accounting for 8.4% of total deaths. Notably, 57.0% of all deaths occurred in March and April. The crude death rate, which indicates deaths per 100,000 population, was 61, up 522.8% (51.2) from 9.8 the previous year.

Im Young-il, head of the Population Trends Division at Statistics Korea, explained, "From February last year, as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 spread, the number of deaths surged in March and April, leading to an increase in total deaths. Until 2021, it was impossible to predict that COVID-19 would spread to this extent."

The majority of COVID-19 deaths were elderly, with those aged 60 and above accounting for 95.4%. The mortality rate increased with age. Among the elderly, those aged 80 and above accounted for 65.6% of COVID-19 deaths, followed by those in their 70s at 20.6%. Those in their 60s accounted for 9.2%, while those in their 40s and 50s made up about 3.9%. Deaths among those aged 0-39 accounted for only 0.6% of the total.

The leading cause of death overall is 'cancer'... 'suicide' among those in their 10s to 30s

The top three causes of death, accounting for 39.8% of all deaths, were malignant neoplasms (cancer), heart disease, and COVID-19. Traditionally, cancer has had a high mortality rate, with 83,378 deaths and a death rate of 162.7 per 100,000. Among cancers, lung cancer had the highest death rate at 36.3, followed by liver cancer (19.9), colorectal cancer (17.9), pancreatic cancer (14.3), and stomach cancer (13.9). Lung cancer death rates were highest for both men and women, but the overall death rate was 1.6 times higher in men (200.6) than in women (125).

Heart disease caused 33,715 deaths, with a death rate of 65.8. Heart disease had a higher death rate than other circulatory system diseases such as cerebrovascular disease (49.6) and hypertensive disease (15.1). Among those aged 80 and over, the death rate from heart disease (929.5) was overwhelmingly higher than cerebrovascular disease (661.8) and hypertensive disease (283).

Besides the top three causes, pneumonia, cerebrovascular disease, intentional self-harm (suicide), Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, hypertensive diseases, and liver diseases were also significant causes of death.

By age group, cancer was the leading cause of death from age 40 and above. However, suicide was the leading cause of death among those in their 10s to 30s. Suicide was also the second most common cause of death among those in their 40s and 50s. Heart disease ranked second in the 60s age group and was among the top five causes of death in all age groups.

Excluding COVID-19, the cause of death with the largest increase in mortality was Alzheimer's disease (45.6%). Compared to ten years ago, it increased by 241.2%, the highest growth during the same period. Diabetes (24.9%), hypertensive diseases (24.2%), pneumonia (17.3%), and cerebrovascular disease (12.6%) also showed increasing trends. In contrast, respiratory tuberculosis (-7.5%) and transport accidents (-4.1%) showed decreasing trends.

Deaths due to external causes other than diseases accounted for 7.2% (26,688 people), down 1.1 percentage points from 8.2% the previous year. Suicide had the highest death rate at 25.2, followed by transport accidents at 6.8 and falls at 5.3. Homicide (-10.0%) showed a decrease in death rate.

Alcohol-related deaths totaled 5,033, an increase of 105 from the previous year, with an alcohol-related death rate of 9.8, up 2.3%.