In 2024, the number of deaths in South Korea stood at about *******, slightly up from about ******* in the previous year. The number of deaths in South Korea has increased over the last few years.

The United States military entered the Korean War in July 1950 and fought on the side of South Korea against the communist forces of North Korea and the People's Republic of China until August 1953. In total, the United States military would suffer almost 37,000 deaths through hostilities. Of these, servicemembers in the Army made up the vast majority of deaths (82.19 percent), with most of these being the result of soldiers being killed in action. A smaller number of marines and navy servicemembers were killed in Korea, with the majority also having been killed in action for these groups. For the United States Air Force, the composition of total deaths is quite different, as the majority of pilots killed during the conflict were declared dead after going missing in action. This likely reflects the fact that when an airplane was shot from the sky in battle, the remains of the pilots are not recoverable.

Korea Death Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data was reported at 5.500 Ratio in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 5.400 Ratio for 2015. Korea Death Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 5.600 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 13.991 Ratio in 1960 and a record low of 5.000 Ratio in 2009. Korea Death Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Korea – Table KR.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Crude death rate indicates the number of deaths occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

In 2023, there were about ** deaths due to heat waves in South Korea. Overall, since 2010, there have been ** deaths due to typhoons, ****due to downpours, and about *** due to heat waves.

South Korea recorded 34610 Coronavirus Deaths since the epidemic began, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, South Korea reported 31415280 Coronavirus Cases. This dataset includes a chart with historical data for South Korea Coronavirus Deaths.

Korea Mortality Caused by Road Traffic Injury: per 100,000 People data was reported at 12.000 Number in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 14.000 Number for 2010. Korea Mortality Caused by Road Traffic Injury: per 100,000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 15.300 Number from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2015, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 26.300 Number in 2000 and a record low of 12.000 Number in 2015. Korea Mortality Caused by Road Traffic Injury: per 100,000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Korea – Table KR.World Bank: Health Statistics. Mortality caused by road traffic injury is estimated road traffic fatal injury deaths per 100,000 population.; ; World Health Organization, Global Status Report on Road Safety.; Weighted average;

Korea Completeness of Total Death Reporting data was reported at 97.542 % in 2009. This records a decrease from the previous number of 99.593 % for 2008. Korea Completeness of Total Death Reporting data is updated yearly, averaging 99.593 % from Dec 2006 (Median) to 2009, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 100.000 % in 2006 and a record low of 97.542 % in 2009. Korea Completeness of Total Death Reporting data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Korea – Table KR.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Completeness of total death reporting is the number of total deaths reported by national statistics authorities to the United Nations Statistics Division's Demography Yearbook divided by the number of total deaths estimated by the United Nations Population Division.; ; The United Nations Statistics Division's Population and Vital Statistics Report and the United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects.; Weighted average;

In 2023, about ******* men and ******* women died in South Korea. The total number of deaths that year was around *******.

South Korea Number of Deaths Ages 10-14 Years data was reported at 183.000 Person in 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of 190.000 Person for 2018. South Korea Number of Deaths Ages 10-14 Years data is updated yearly, averaging 533.000 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2019, with 30 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,517.000 Person in 1990 and a record low of 183.000 Person in 2019. South Korea Number of Deaths Ages 10-14 Years data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Korea – Table KR.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Number of deaths of adolescents ages 10-14 years; ; Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Sum; Aggregate data for LIC, UMC, LMC, HIC are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, and ended on July 27, 1953, with an armistice. The “War of June 25” started with an invasion by North Korea and claimed around *** million military casualties, including ******* fatalities. This does not even consider the millions of civilians killed or forced to flee from their homes. Throughout the war, North Korea gained control of almost all of South Korea before South Korean and United Nations forces pushed north to regain control. Nearly all regions and people were affected at some point, with massive destruction everywhere. The unfinished warThe Korean War was the largest international war following the Second World War and one of the few conflicts during the Cold War. The United Nations forces, largely composed of American troops, fought alongside South Korea, while Chinese and Soviet troops supported North Korea. The Korean War unofficially ended with an armistice. This was to be followed by a formal treaty to end the war, but this never happened. Officially, North and South Korea are still at war today. Divided familiesThe Korean War resulted in millions of dead, missing, abducted, and refugee civilians. Over a million North Koreans fled south of the border. The war tore many families apart. Following the inter-Korean summit in 2000, the two governments arranged for family reunions in North Korea. North Korea would not permit the people to leave, so the family members in the south went to meet them. Between 2000 and 2023, more than ** reunions have been held in North Korea. Most of the family members in South Korea are now in their 80s to 90s. Although there is substantial agreement on the need to continue these reunions before the separate families age and pass away, this has not always been possible due to tensions between the two Koreas.

As of July 3, 2023, South Korea has confirmed a total of 32,256,154 cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) within the country, including 35,071 deaths. South Korea's handling of the coronavirus (COVID-19) was initially widely praised, though the government's handling of vaccine distribution has been criticized. After the first wave lasted till April, Seoul and the metropolitan areas were hit hard by a few group infections during the second wave in August 2020. This was followed by a fourth wave, driven by the delta variant and low vaccination rates, leading to rising figures. Though the country has since achieved high vaccination rates, the omicron variant led to record new daily cases in 2022.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Daily updates of Covid-19 Global Excess Deaths from the Economist's GitHub repository: https://github.com/TheEconomist/covid-19-the-economist-global-excess-deaths-model

Interpreting estimates

Estimating excess deaths for every country every day since the pandemic began is a complex and difficult task. Rather than being overly confident in a single number, limited data means that we can often only give a very very wide range of plausible values. Focusing on central estimates in such cases would be misleading: unless ranges are very narrow, the 95% range should be reported when possible. The ranges assume that the conditions for bootstrap confidence intervals are met. Please see our tracker page and methodology for more information.

New variants

The Omicron variant, first detected in southern Africa in November 2021, appears to have characteristics that are different to earlier versions of sars-cov-2. Where this variant is now dominant, this change makes estimates uncertain beyond the ranges indicated. Other new variants may do the same. As more data is incorporated from places where new variants are dominant, predictions improve.

Non-reporting countries

Turkmenistan and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have not reported any covid-19 figures since the start of the pandemic. They also have not published all-cause mortality data. Exports of estimates for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have been temporarily disabled as it now issues contradictory data: reporting a significant outbreak through its state media, but zero confirmed covid-19 cases/deaths to the WHO.

Acknowledgements

A special thanks to all our sources and to those who have made the data to create these estimates available. We list all our sources in our methodology. Within script 1, the source for each variable is also given as the data is loaded, with the exception of our sources for excess deaths data, which we detail in on our free-to-read excess deaths tracker as well as on GitHub. The gradient booster implementation used to fit the models is aGTBoost, detailed here.

Calculating excess deaths for the entire world over multiple years is both complex and imprecise. We welcome any suggestions on how to improve the model, be it data, algorithm, or logic. If you have one, please open an issue.

The Economist would also like to acknowledge the many people who have helped us refine the model so far, be it through discussions, facilitating data access, or offering coding assistance. A special thanks to Ariel Karlinsky, Philip Schellekens, Oliver Watson, Lukas Appelhans, Berent Å. S. Lunde, Gideon Wakefield, Johannes Hunger, Carol D'Souza, Yun Wei, Mehran Hosseini, Samantha Dolan, Mollie Van Gordon, Rahul Arora, Austin Teda Atmaja, Dirk Eddelbuettel and Tom Wenseleers.

All coding and data collection to construct these models (and make them update dynamically) was done by Sondre Ulvund Solstad. Should you have any questions about them after reading the methodology, please open an issue or contact him at sondresolstad@economist.com.

Suggested citation The Economist and Solstad, S. (corresponding author), 2021. The pandemic’s true death toll. [online] The Economist. Available at: https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/coronavirus-excess-deaths-estimates [Accessed ---]. First published in the article "Counting the dead", The Economist, issue 20, 2021.

South Korea Number of Deaths Ages 15-19 Years data was reported at 565.000 Person in 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of 594.000 Person for 2018. South Korea Number of Deaths Ages 15-19 Years data is updated yearly, averaging 1,060.500 Person from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2019, with 30 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3,403.000 Person in 1990 and a record low of 565.000 Person in 2019. South Korea Number of Deaths Ages 15-19 Years data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Korea – Table KR.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Number of deaths of adolescents ages 15-19 years; ; Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Sum; Aggregate data for LIC, UMC, LMC, HIC are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

South Korea Probability of Dying at Age 10-14 Years: per 1000 data was reported at 0.400 Ratio in 2019. This stayed constant from the previous number of 0.400 Ratio for 2018. South Korea Probability of Dying at Age 10-14 Years: per 1000 data is updated yearly, averaging 0.750 Ratio from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2019, with 30 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.900 Ratio in 1990 and a record low of 0.400 Ratio in 2019. South Korea Probability of Dying at Age 10-14 Years: per 1000 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Korea – Table KR.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Probability of dying between age 10-14 years of age expressed per 1,000 adolescents age 10, if subject to age-specific mortality rates of the specified year.; ; Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Weighted average; Aggregate data for LIC, UMC, LMC, HIC are computed based on the groupings for the World Bank fiscal year in which the data was released by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

Real-time population statistics for South Korea and North Korea, including birth rates, death rates, and population growth data.

Korea Cause of Death: by Non-Communicable Diseases: % of Total data was reported at 79.800 % in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 79.700 % for 2015. Korea Cause of Death: by Non-Communicable Diseases: % of Total data is updated yearly, averaging 79.900 % from Dec 2000 (Median) to 2016, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 81.500 % in 2000 and a record low of 79.700 % in 2015. Korea Cause of Death: by Non-Communicable Diseases: % of Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s South Korea – Table KR.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Cause of death refers to the share of all deaths for all ages by underlying causes. Non-communicable diseases include cancer, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, digestive diseases, skin diseases, musculoskeletal diseases, and congenital anomalies.; ; Derived based on the data from WHO's Global Health Estimates.; Weighted average;

Korea Number of Death: Infant data was reported at 1,303.000 Person in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1,345.000 Person for 2015. Korea Number of Death: Infant data is updated yearly, averaging 10,443.000 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 85,226.000 Person in 1960 and a record low of 1,303.000 Person in 2016. Korea Number of Death: Infant data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Korea – Table KR.World Bank: Health Statistics. Number of infants dying before reaching one year of age.; ; Estimates developed by the UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN DESA Population Division) at www.childmortality.org.; Sum;

Korea Lifetime Risk Of Maternal Death data was reported at 0.014 % in 2015. This records a decrease from the previous number of 0.014 % for 2014. Korea Lifetime Risk Of Maternal Death data is updated yearly, averaging 0.019 % from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2015, with 26 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 0.040 % in 1990 and a record low of 0.014 % in 2015. Korea Lifetime Risk Of Maternal Death data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Korea – Table KR.World Bank: Health Statistics. Life time risk of maternal death is the probability that a 15-year-old female will die eventually from a maternal cause assuming that current levels of fertility and mortality (including maternal mortality) do not change in the future, taking into account competing causes of death.; ; WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group, and the United Nations Population Division. Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2015. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2015; Weighted average;

Cancer remained the leading cause of death in South Korea in 2023, with the rate of deaths resulting from malignant neoplasms standing at ***** per 100,000 inhabitants. While various health conditions were common causes of death, suicide was a stand-out. Improvements in cancer treatments The five-year survival rate for cancer patients in South Korea reached **** percent in 2022, a substantial increase from 1996. This improvement comes with medical advancements concerning both treatment and diagnostics. Simultaneously, more and more South Koreans have elected to undergo cancer screenings, which helps with preventative treatments as well as early diagnosis and intervention. However, such advancements did not happen evenly, but rather still depend heavily on the type of cancer. Thyroid cancer patients had the highest five-year relative survival rate in 2022, while pancreatic cancer patients faced the lowest at only **** percent. High suicide rates Suicide remains a significant issue in South Korea, particularly among the elderly. The suicide rate in 2023 was highest among those aged 80 years and older, at **** deaths per 100,000 population. Poverty among senior citizens was a major contributing factor, while mental and physical illness were other common reasons among the general population. Despite this, it was among the younger population that suicide was the leading cause of death in 2023. While there have been both private and public initiatives surrounding mental health and suicide, as well as the attached stigma, South Korea still has one of the highest suicide rates worldwide.

Drug-induced deaths, including deaths due to medical narcotics, from 2011 to 2021 by sex, age, type of death, marital status, and educational attainment provided by Statistics Korea