Icheon City Big Data Analysis Finds Men in Their 50s at Highest Suicide Risk

Men Account for 85% of Total Cases
Prevention Measures to Focus on High-Risk Groups

'Men in their 50s.' According to a big data analysis conducted by Icheon City, Gyeonggi Province, this age group was identified as the highest suicide risk group.

On August 6, Icheon City announced that it had recently completed a 'Big Data Analysis for Suicide Prevention and Response Measures' to prepare effective suicide prevention strategies. The city plans to develop step-by-step prevention policies tailored to local circumstances based on the results of this analysis.

This analysis was conducted using four years of statistical data, from 2019 to 2023, obtained from Statistics Korea, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Icheon City Public Health Center.

During the analysis period, the suicide rate peaked in 2021, and 85% of all suicide victims were men.

Notably, 23% of suicide victims?about one in four?were in their 50s. This figure is 3 percentage points higher than the national average of 20%. The proportion of women was only 15%, clearly highlighting the gender disparity.

Among all suicide victims, 32% were seniors aged 60 or older, with the largest share in their 70s. However, the proportion of suicides among those aged 80 or older was about 6.7%, lower than the national average of 9.8%.

In contrast, as of 2023, there were no cases of suicide among teenagers (those in their teens) in Icheon City.

Based on these findings, the city plans to develop prevention-focused policies targeting high-risk groups. Icheon City will also prepare comprehensive response measures covering mental health promotion, prevention of social isolation, awareness improvement, and support for vulnerable groups. The city intends to refer to international cases and the WHO's suicide prevention guidelines to further tailor policies to local needs.

Kim Kyunghee, Mayor of Icheon City, stated, "Systematically identifying suicide risk structures through accurate statistical analysis is the first step in policy design," adding, "We will do our utmost to protect citizens' lives through scientifically grounded suicide prevention measures."