According to the 2025 cause of death statistics released by the National Data Agency on Feb. 22, 2025, total deaths reached 362,968, marking the second-highest figure ever recorded, following 2022. This figure represents a 1.2 percent increase, or 4,399 more deaths, compared to the previous year, driven by the nation’s deepening demographic aging.
Crude Death Rates and the Aging Population Shift
The crude death rate, which measures the number of deaths per 100,000 residents, climbed to 712.6 persons. This represents a 1.4 percent increase, or 10.0 more people per 100,000 residents, from the prior year. The National Data Agency data shows that individuals aged 80 and older accounted for 54.7 percent of all deaths in 2025. That proportion represents a 13.9 percentage point surge compared to a decade prior, highlighting the accelerating impact of an aging society.
Leading Causes of Death by Age Group
Morbidity tracking reveals a stark generational divide in mortality risks. According to the National Data Agency, intentional self-harm remained the leading cause of death for individuals aged 10 through 40 last year. For residents aged 50 and older, cancer ranked as the primary cause of death.
For the 10-to-19 age demographic, the top ten causes of death in order were cancer, heart disease, pneumonia, cerebrovascular disease, intentional self-harm, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, sepsis, hypertensive disease, and liver disease. Notably, sepsis climbed two spots from the previous year to rank eighth, while hypertensive disease and liver disease each dropped one position.
Cancer and Dementia Mortality Trends
Malignant neoplasms, commonly known as cancer, accounted for 24.9 percent of all deaths in 2025. The cancer mortality rate reached 177.1 per 100,000 residents, marking a 1.6 percent increase from the previous year. Lung cancer recorded the highest mortality rate at 38.9 per 100,000, followed by liver cancer at 20.4, colorectal cancer at 19.1, pancreatic cancer at 17.0, and stomach cancer at 13.7.
Alongside general aging, neurodegenerative conditions exacted a heavier toll. Dementia mortality rose to 32.0 per 100,000 residents, representing a 9.2 percent increase year-over-year. Government figures indicate that the dementia mortality rate among women was 2.1 times higher than that of men.
Decline in Suicide Rates
In contrast to rising age-related and disease-specific figures, the intentional self-harm mortality rate dropped to 27.8 per 100,000 residents, representing a 4.7 percent—or 1.4 person—decrease from the previous year.
Park Hyun-jung, head of the Population Trends Division at the National Data Agency, explained the trajectory of the data to reporters. According to Park, suicide rates peaked in 2021 before generally declining through 2017. Subsequent increases in 2018 and 2019 followed the Werther effect tied to celebrity suicides. Rates dipped during the COVID-19 pandemic, ticked up slightly in 2021, dropped in 2022, and then rose for two consecutive years in 2023 and 2024 before turning downward in 2025 after a three-year span.
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