Cancer remained South Korea’s top cause of death in 2021 despite the continued spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, statistical office data showed on Tuesday.

According to Statistics Korea, cancer caused 161.1 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021, up 0.6 per cent from the previous year.

It continued to rank first since relevant data began to be compiled in 1983.

Among the cancer-caused deaths, the death rate from lung cancer marked the highest, with 36.8 deaths per 100,000 people.

It added that it was followed by liver cancer with 20.0, colorectal cancer with 17.5, gastric cancer with 14.1, and pancreatic cancer with 13.5, respectively.

The second-highest cause of death was cardiac disorder, which caused 61.5 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021.

The third-highest was pneumonia, with a death rate of 44.4 per 100,000. The top three causes of death accounted for 43.1 per cent of the total deaths in 2021, which was down 1.8 percentage points from a year earlier.

On the top 10 list of causes of death were cerebrovascular disease with 44.0 deaths per 100,000 people, diabetes with 17.5, Alzheimer’s disease with 15.6, liver disease with 13.9, blood poisoning with 12.5, and hypertensive disorder with 12.1.

However, suicide ranked fifth, with a death rate of 26.0 deaths per 100,000 people in 2021. It was up from 25.7 tallied in the previous year.

Suicide was the first killer among teens and those in their 20s and 30s last year. 

(Xinhua/NAN)