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J Korean Med Assoc > Volume 59(3); 2016 > Article
Shin, Lee, Song, Lee, Lee, Lim, Kim, and Huh: Cause-of-death statistics in the Republic of Korea, 2014

Health Statistics

J Korean Med Assoc 2016; 59(3): 221-232.

Published online: March 10, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2016.59.3.221

Cause-of-death statistics in the Republic of Korea, 2014

Hyun-Young Shin, MD1, Ji-Youn Lee, PhD2, Juhwa Song, BSc2, Seokmin Lee, BSc2, Junghun Lee, BSc2, Byeongsun Lim, MSc2, Heyran Kim, BSc2, Sun Huh, MD3

1Department of Family Medicine, Myongji Hospital, Seonam University College of Medicine, Goyang, Korea

2Vital Statistics Division, Statistics Korea, Deajeon, Korea

3Department of Parasitology and Institute of Medical Education, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Korea

Corresponding author: Sun Huh E-mail: shuh@hallym.ac.kr

Received February 09, 2016       Accepted February 21, 2016

Copyright © 2016 Korean Medical Association

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

This article presents recent trends and statistical indicators related to mortality in the Republic of Korea by analyzing the 2014 cause-of-death statistics. Specifically, we assessed the number of deaths, the crude death rate, the ranking of causes of death, and trends in the death rate from the major causes of death. Causes of death were classified according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision, as recommended by the World Health Organization. In order to determine the ranking of causes of death, Statistics Korea used the selection list of 56 causes of death from the 80 causes of death list for tabulation mortality statistics recommended by World Health Organization to better fit the Korean situation. The 10 leading causes of death were, in order, cancer, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, suicide, pneumonia, diabetes mellitus, chronic lower respiratory disease, liver disease, transport accidents, and hypertensive diseases. The top 10 causes of death accounted for 70.5% of all Korean deaths. The ranking of cancer types as causes of death was lung, liver, stomach, colon, and pancreatic cancer. Death rates for heart disease increased from the third in 2013 to the second leading cause in 2014 and the rank of pneumonia moved up from the sixth in 2013 to the fifth in 2014. The mortality rate due to stomach cancer has decreased continuously over time. This finding may reflect changes in Korean society involving population structure, epidemiological patterns, and lifestyles, including dietary habits.

Keywords: Neoplasms; Cardiovascular diseases; Cause of death; Heart diseases; Korea

Figure 1.
Trends in the number of deaths and crude death rate from 1994 to 2014 based on annual cause-of-death statistics for the Korean population.
jkma-59-221f1-l.jpg
Figure 2.
Leading causes of death by sex in 2014 based on annual cause-of-death statistics for the Korean population.
jkma-59-221f2-l.jpg
Figure 3.
Trends in the death rate due to the five leading cancers from 2000 to 2014 based on annual cause-of-death statistics for the Korean population.
jkma-59-221f3-l.jpg
Figure 4.
Trends in the death rate due to cancers by age from 2000 to 2014 based on annual cause-of-death statistics for the Korean population. (A) Malignant neoplasm of stomach, (B) malignant neoplasm of colon, rectum and anus, (C) malignant neoplasm of liver and intrahepatic bile ducts, (D) malignant neoplasm of trachea, bronchus and lung, (E) malignant neoplasm of breast, (F) malignant neoplasm of cervix uteri, and (G) malignant neoplasm of prostate.
jkma-59-221f4-l.jpg
jkma-59-221f5-l.jpg
Table 1.
Trends of number of deaths and crude death rates of Korean people from 1990 to 2014
Year No. of deaths
 Crude death rate
 Sex ratio (male/ female) Average daily no. of deaths
Total Male Female Total Male Female
1990 241,616 138,730 102,886 563.6 643.2 483.0 1.33 662
1991 242,270 138,270 104,000 559.6 634.7 483.5 1.31 664
1992 236,162 134,231 101,931 539.8 609.8 469.0 1.30 645
2000 246,163 136,486 109,677 517.9 571.9 463.3 1.23 673
2001 241,521 134,058 107,463 504.5 557.8 450.7 1.24 662
2002 245,317 134,742 110,575 509.7 557.9 461.2 1.21 672
2003 244,506 134,887 109,619 506.1 556.6 455.4 1.22 670
2004 244,217 135,218 108,999 503.7 556.1 451.0 1.23 667
2005 243,883 134,382 109,501 501.0 550.5 451.1 1.22 668
2006 242,266 133,725 108,541 495.6 545.7 445.2 1.23 664
2007 244,874 134,922 109,952 498.4 547.9 448.7 1.22 671
2008 246,113 136,932 109,181 498.2 553.1 443.0 1.25 672
2009 246,942 137,736 109,206 497.3 553.7 440.7 1.26 677
2010 255,405 142,358 113,047 512.0 570.0 454.0 1.26 700
2011 257,396 143,250 114,146 513.6 571.1 456.0 1.25 705
2012 267,221 147,372 119,849 530.8 585.1 476.4 1.23 730
2013 266,257 146,599 119,658 526.6 579.8 473.4 1.22 729
2014 267,692 147,321 120,371 527.3 580.6 474.1 1.22 733
From Change 2013 1,435 722 713 0.7 0.8 0.7    
Percentage change 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.1 0.1 0.1    

Unit: person, per 100,000 population, person, %

Table 2.
Trends of number of deaths of Korean people by sex and age in 2004, 2013, and 2014
      Age (yr)
Total 0 1–9 10–19 20–29 30–39 40–49 50–59 60–69 70–79 80≤
Total 2004   244,217 2,228 1,375 1,526 3,961 8,613 20,649 26,080 47,578 61,943 70,255
  2013   266,257 1,305 595 1,084 2,782 6,273 15,270 29,754 35,696 74,130 99,332
  2014   267,692 1,305 493 1,109 2,580 5,940 14,611 29,795 35,409 72,660 103,748
  From 2013 Change 1,435 0 –102 25 –202 –333 –659 41 –287 –1,470 4,416
    Percentage change 0.5 0.0 –17.1 2.3 –7.3 –5.3 –4.3 0.1 –0.8 –2.0 4.4
  2004   135,218 1,221 814 1,021 2,667 5,927 15,319 19,510 32,470 32,273 23,994
  2013   146,599 698 352 733 1,850 4,083 10,833 22,068 25,329 44,484 36,159
  2014   147,321 715 266 714 1,735 3,843 10,278 22,123 25,324 44,135 38,167
  From 2013 Change 722 17 –86 –19 –115 –240 –555 55 –5 –349 2,008
    Percentage change 0.5 2.4 –24.4 –2.6 –6.2 –5.9 –5.1 0.2 –0.0 –0.8 5.6
Male 2004   108,999 1,007 561 505 1,294 2,686 5,330 6,570 15,108 29,670 46,261
  2013   119,658 607 243 351 932 2,190 4,437 7,686 10,367 29,646 63,173
  2014   120,371 590 227 395 845 2,097 4,333 7,672 10,085 28,525 65,581
  From 2013 Change 713 –17 –16 44 –87 –93 –104 –14 –282 –1,121 2,408
    Percentage change 0.6 –2.8 –6.6 12.5 –9.3 –4.2 –2.3 –0.2 –2.7 –3.8 3.8
Sex ratio (male/ female) 2004   1.24 1.21 1.45 2.02 2.06 2.21 2.87 2.97 2.15 1.09 0.52
2013   1.23 1.15 1.45 2.09 1.98 1.86 2.44 2.87 2.44 1.50 0.57
2014   1.22 1.21 1.17 1.81 2.05 1.83 2.37 2.88 2.51 1.55 0.58

Unit: person

Table 3.
Trends of death rates of Korean people by sex and age in 2004, 2013, and 2014
      Age (yr)
Total 0 1–9 10–19 20–29 30–39 40–49 50–59 60–69 70–79 80≤
Total 2004   503.7 484.1 24.4 23.1 50.3 96.8 252.1 545.0 1,306.8 3,506.6 11,199.5
  2013   526.6 294.6 14.2 17.1 42.3 78.2 174.4 382.1 821.8 2,475.5 8,902.6
  2014   527.3 310.2 11.8 18.2 39.2 75.7 165.8 372.4 781.7 2,358.0 8,597.5
  From 2013 Change 0.7 15.6 –2.4 1.1 –3.1 –2.5 –8.6 –9.7 –40.2 –117.5 –305.1
    Percentage change 0.1 5.3 –16.8 6.1 –7.4 –3.2 –4.9 –2.5 –4.9 –4.7 –3.4
Male 2004   556.1 510.2 27.6 29.3 66.1 130.6 367.3 817.1 1,945.3 4,912.6 13,134.3
  2013   579.8 306.9 16.2 22.1 53.8 99.9 243.3 564.5 1,209.1 3,534.4 11,044.8
  2014   580.6 331.4 12.3 22.4 50.2 96.1 229.7 550.2 1,154.1 3,380.9 10,608.0
  From 2013 Change 0.8 24.5 –3.9 0.3 –3.6 –3.9 –13.6 –14.3 –55.0 –153.5 –436.8
    Percentage change 0.1 8.0 –24.0 1.4 –6.7 –3.9 –5.6 –2.5 –4.6 –4.3 –4.0
Female 2004   451.0 455.9 21.0 16.1 33.7 61.6 132.6 274.0 766.2 2,674.1 10,404.6
  2013   473.4 281.7 11.9 11.7 29.7 55.7 103.1 198.2 461.1 1,707.8 8,013.0
  2014   474.1 287.9 11.2 13.6 27.0 54.5 99.9 192.8 431.8 1,606.1 7,743.3
  From 2013 Change 0.7 6.3 –0.8 1.9 –2.7 –1.2 –3.2 –5.5 –29.3 –101.6 –269.6
    Percentage change 0.1 2.2 –6.4 16.4 –9.1 –2.1 –3.1 –2.8 –6.3 –6.0 –3.4
Sex ratio (male/ female) 2004   1.23 1.12 1.32 1.81 1.96 2.12 2.77 2.98 2.54 1.84 1.26
2013   1.22 1.09 1.36 1.89 1.81 1.79 2.36 2.85 2.62 2.07 1.38
2014   1.22 1.15 1.10 1.64 1.86 1.76 2.30 2.85 2.67 2.10 1.37

Unit: per 100,000 population, %

Table 4.
Trends of leading causes of death of Korean people in 2004, 2013, and 2014
Rank 2004
 2013
 2014
Causes of death Death rate Causes of death Death rate Causes of death No. of death Percentage Death rate
1 Malignant neoplasms 132.6 Malignant neoplasms 149.0 Malignant neoplasms 76,611 28.6 150.9
2 Cerebrovascular disease 70.1 Cerebrovascular disease 50.3 Heart disease 26,588 9.9 52.4
3 Heart disease 36.7 Heart disease 50.2 Cerebrovascular disease 24,486 9.1 48.2
4 Diabetes mellitus 24.2 Suicides 28.5 Suicides 13,836 5.2 27.3
5 Suicides 23.7 Diabetes mellitus 21.5 Pneumonia 12,021 4.5 23.7
6 Liver disease 19.0 Pneumonia 21.4 Diabetes mellitus 10,526 3.9 20.7
7 Chronic lower respiratory disease 17.3 Chronic lower respiratory disease 14.0 Chronic lower respiratory disease 7,171 2.7 14.1
8 Transfer accidents 17.1 Liver disease 13.2 Liver disease 6,635 2.5 13.1
9 Hypertensive disease 10.4 Transfer accidents 11.9 Transfer accidents 5,700 2.1 11.2
10 Pneumonia 7.1 Hypertensive disease 9.4 Hypertensive disease 5,061 1.9 10.0

Unit: per 100,000 population, person, %

Table 5.
Percentage and death rate of Korean people due to three leading causes by age in 2014
Age (yr) 1st
 2nd
 3rd
Cause of death Percentage Death rate Cause of death Percentage Death rate No. of death Percentage Death rate
1–9 Malignant neoplasms 17.8 2.1 Transfer accidents 10.5 1.2 Congenital deformity 9.5 1.1
10–19 Transfer accidents 26.2 4.8 Suicides 24.7 4.5 Malignant neoplasms 14.3 2.6
20–29 Suicides 45.5 17.8 Transfer accidents 15.4 6.0 Malignant neoplasms 10.6 4.1
30–39 Suicides 36.9 27.9 Malignant neoplasms 19.5 14.7 Transfer accidents 7.8 5.9
40–49 Malignant neoplasms 29.3 48.6 Suicides 19.5 32.4 Liver disease 7.9 13.2
50–59 Malignant neoplasms 38.8 144.6 Suicides 9.8 36.4 Heart disease 7.9 29.3
60–69 Malignant neoplasms 44.1 344.4 Heart disease 8.6 67.1 Cerebrovascular disease 7.7 59.8
70–79 Malignant neoplasms 35.1 827.1 Cerebrovascular disease 10.5 248.5 Heart disease 9.9 234.6
80≤ Malignant neoplasms 17.3 1490.8 Heart disease 11.9 1027.2 Cerebrovascular disease 10.8 925.1

Unit: %, per 100,000 population

Table 6.
Trends of death rate of Korean people due to cancer by sex in 2004, 2013, and 2014
      Malignant neoplasm Esophagus Stomach Colon, rectum and anus Liver and intrahepatic bile ducts Pancreas Trachea, bronchus and lung Breast Cervix uteri Prostate Meninges, brain and central nervous system Leukaemia
Total 2004   132.6 3.1 23.1 12.1 22.4 6.3 27.3 3.1 2.2 1.9 2.3 3.0
  2013   149.0 2.9 18.2 16.4 22.6 9.6 34.0 4.4 1.8 3.2 2.4 3.2
  2014   150.9 3.0 17.6 16.5 22.8 10.1 34.4 4.5 1.9 3.3 2.5 3.3
  From 2013 Change 1.9 0.2 –0.6 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.4 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1
  Percentage change 1.3 5.9 –3.3 1.1 1.0 5.5 1.1 0.8 7.2 1.9 7.0 4.5
Male 2004   168.7 5.6 29.9 13.3 33.7 7.2 40.4 0.1 – 3.8 2.4 3.5
  2013   186.2 5.2 23.7 18.5 33.3 10.3 49.5 0.1 – 6.4 2.5 3.7
  2014   188.7 5.5 22.7 18.9 34.0 10.8 50.4 0.1 – 6.6 2.8 3.6
  From 2013 Change 2.4 0.3 –1.0 0.3 0.6 0.5 0.9 0.0 – 0.1 0.3 –0.1
  Percentage change 1.3 6.2 –4.2 1.9 1.9 4.9 1.8 30.3 – 2.0 14.1 –2.9
Female 2004   96.4 0.5 16.2 10.8 11.0 5.4 14.2 6.1 4.5 – 2.2 2.6
  2013   111.8 0.5 12.6 14.2 11.8 8.8 18.4 8.8 3.5 – 2.3 2.6
  2014   113.2 0.5 12.4 14.2 11.6 9.3 18.3 8.9 3.8 – 2.2 3.0
  From 2013 Change 1.4 0.0 –0.2 0.0 –0.2 0.5 –0.1 0.1 0.3 – –0.0 0.4
  Percentage change 1.3 3.4 –1.5 0.2 –1.6 6.2 –0.5 0.6 7.1 – –0.8 15.2
Sex ratio (male/ female) 2004   1.75 10.27 1.85 1.23 3.06 1.34 2.85 0.01 – – 1.11 1.37
2013   1.67 10.31 1.88 1.31 2.82 1.18 2.69 0.01 – – 1.09 1.46
2014   1.67 10.58 1.83 1.33 2.92 1.16 2.75 0.01 – – 1.26 1.23

unit: per 100,000 population, %

Table 7.
Trends of death rate of Korean people due to cancer by sex in 2004, 2013, and 2014
Age (yr) 2013 2014 Malignant neoplasm
Esophagus Stomach Colon, rectum and anus Liver and intrahepatic bile ducts Pancreas Trachea, bronchus and lung Breast Cervix uteri Prostate Meninges, brain and central nervous system Leukaemia
Total 149.0 150.9 3.0 17.6 16.5 22.8 10.1 34.4 4.5 1.9 3.3 2.5 3.3
0 2.5 2.1 – – – 0.5 – – – – – 0.2 0.2
1–9 2.4 2.1 – – – 0.0 – – – – – 0.7 0.8
10–19 2.7 2.6 – 0.0 – 0.1 – 0.0 0.0 – – 0.6 0.9
20–29 4.7 4.1 0.0 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 – 0.5 1.1
30–39 15.4 14.7 0.0 2.4 1.1 2.1 0.4 1.2 1.7 0.8 0.0 0.7 1.2
40–49 50.3 48.6 0.6 6.7 4.3 10.4 2.2 4.7 5.8 1.7 0.0 1.7 1.7
50–59 146.3 144.6 3.2 17.2 14.2 33.4 9.4 22.1 9.0 2.5 0.6 3.1 3.2
60–69 361.5 344.4 8.9 34.8 34.1 61.6 24.9 85.1 9.0 3.0 4.3 6.0 6.2
70–79 852.2 827.1 19.6 88.8 89.0 106.8 61.8 227.5 9.7 7.1 21.8 10.2 15.3
80≤ 1,477.6 1,490.8 18.0 201.0 206.2 141.9 91.4 355.5 15.5 15.7 61.6 12.3 21.4

Unit: per 100,000 population

Table 8.
Trends of death rate of Korean people due to disease of the circulatory system by sex in 2004, 2013, and 2014
      Disease of the circulatory Hypertensive disease Heart disease Cerebroavascular disease
Total Ischemic heart diseasea) Other heart diseaseb)
Total 2004   119.9 10.4 36.7 26.2 10.5 70.1
  2013   113.1 9.4 50.2 26.8 23.3 50.3
  2014   113.9 10.0 52.4 27.9 24.4 48.2
  From 2013 Change 0.8 0.6 2.2 1.1 1.1 –2.1
  Percentage change 0.7 6.5 4.4 4.1 4.8 –4.2
Male 2004   114.7 6.9 38.5 27.9 10.6 66.5
  2013   107.2 5.9 49.9 28.3 21.6 47.8
  2014   108.4 6.0 52.3 29.5 22.8 46.6
  From 2013 Change 1.2 0.1 2.4 1.2 1.3 –1.2
  Percentage change 1.1 1.0 4.9 4.2 5.8 –2.6
Female 2004   125.1 13.8 34.9 24.5 10.3 73.8
  2013   119.0 12.8 50.4 25.4 25.1 52.8
  2014   119.4 14.0 52.4 26.4 26.0 49.9
  From 2013 Change 0.4 1.2 2.0 1.0 1.0 –3.0
  Percentage change 0.3 9.1 3.9 4.0 3.9 –5.6
Sex ratio (male/ female) 2004   0.92 0.50 1.10 1.14 1.02 0.90
2013   0.90 0.46 0.99 1.11 0.86 0.91
2014   0.91 0.43 1.00 1.12 0.88 0.93

Unit: per 100,000 population, %

a) Myocardial infarction and angina were include in ischemic heart disease;

b) Heart failure and endocarditis, etc were included in other heart disease.x

Table 9.
Trends of death rate of Korean people due to diseases of the circulatory system by age in 2013 and 2014
Age (yr) 2013 2014 Hypertensive disease Heart disease
 Cerebroavascular disease
Total Ischemic heart diseasea) Otherb) disease heart
Total 113.1 113.9 10.0 52.4 27.9 24.4 48.2
0 5.6 4.0 – 3.6 – 3.6 0.2
1–9 0.7 0.7 – 0.6 – 0.6 0.1
10–19 1.1 0.9 – 0.5 0.0 0.5 0.3
20–29 2.3 2.3 – 1.5 0.3 1.3 0.7
30–39 7.3 7.6 0.2 4.2 2.0 2.2 3.0
40–49 23.4 23.2 0.3 12.2 5.7 6.4 10.1
50–59 55.4 54.4 1.5 29.3 16.4 13.0 22.1
60–69 139.8 137.2 5.3 67.1 38.1 29.0 59.8
70–79   571.2 533.9 33.7 234.6 130.5 104.1
80≤ 2,398.7 2,311.1 299.8 1,027.2 534.1 493.1 925.1

Unit: per 100,000 population

a) Myocardial infarction and angina were include in ischemic heart disease;

b) Heart failure and endocarditis, etc were included in other heart disease.

References

1. Statistics Korea. Annual report on the causes of death statistics [Internet]. Daejeon: Statistics Korea; 2015. [cited 2016 Feb 9]. Available from:. http://kostat.go.kr/portal/korea/kor_nw/2/6/2/index.board.

2. World Health Organization. International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th revision 2016 [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2016. [cited 2016 Feb 9]. Available from:. http://apps.who.int/classifications/icd10/browse/2016/en.

3. Statistics Korea. Korean Standard Classification of Diseases and Causes of Death (KCD-6) [Internet]. Daejeon: Statistics Korea; 2011. [cited 2016 Feb 9]. Available from:. https://kssc.kostat.go.kr:8443/ksscNew_web/ekssc/main/main.do.

4. Jeon JY, Ko SH, Kwon HS, Kim NH, Kim JH, Kim CS, Song KH, Won JC, Lim S, Choi SH, Jang MJ, Kim Y, Oh K, Kim DJ, Cha BY. Taskforce Team of Diabetes Fact Sheet of the Korean Diabetes Association. Prevalence of diabetes and prediabetes according to fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c. Diabetes Metab J 2013;37:349–357.
crossref pmid pmc
5. Jung KW, Won YJ, Kong HJ, Oh CM, Cho H, Lee DH, Lee KH. Cancer statistics in Korea: incidence, mortality, survival, and prevalence in 2012. Cancer Res Treat 2015;47:127–141.
crossref pmid pmc pdf
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