The average South Korean’s satisfaction with life declined for the first time in four years in 2023, ranking 33rd out of the 38 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries, according to new government data. Korea’s suicide rate surged to a nine-year high.
Korea’s overall satisfaction with life fell to 6.4 points out of 10, down 0.1 points from the previous year, Statistics Korea announced on Feb. 24. Life satisfaction among Koreans had risen from 5.7 in 2013 to 6.0 in 2017 and remained relatively stable before peaking to a nine-year high of 6.5 in 2022.
Life satisfaction varied by income level. Households earning less than 1 million won ($700) per month reported an average score of 5.7, well below the national average. The score increased with income, reaching 6.6 among households earning more than 5 million won.
Korea’s life satisfaction score between 2021 and 2023 was 6.06, ranking 33rd out of 38 OECD countries, trailing behind the OECD average of 6.69. Only Türkiye (4.98), Colombia (5.7), Greece (5.93), Hungary (6.02), and Portugal (6.03) scored lower.
The country’s suicide rate, the number of suicides per 100,000 people, climbed to 27.3 in 2023, up from 25.2 in 2022. The suicide rate peaked at 31.7 in 2011 before gradually declining to 24.3 in 2017. The rate fluctuated in the following years, then surged to the highest level in 9 years in 2023.
By gender, men had a significantly higher suicide rate of 38.3 per 100,000 people, more than double the 16.5 for women.
Korea continues to record the highest suicide rate among OECD countries. In 2021, the country recorded 24.3 suicides per 100,000, followed by Lithuania (18.5) and Japan (15.6).
One area where South Korea saw improvement was life expectancy, which rebounded after a pandemic-related decline in 2022. The country’s average life expectancy rose to 83.5 years in 2023, up 0.8 years from the previous year, ranking fifth among OECD countries.
