South Korea's Teen Suicide Rate Reaches Record as National Rate Falls

A decade of rising deaths among teenagers

South Korea's suicide rate among people aged 10 to 19 reached 8.6 deaths per 100,000 in 2025, more than double the 4.2 recorded in 2015, even as the national rate declined. Teenagers were the only age group whose rate increased, rising 7.5 percent from 8.0 in 2024 to the highest level since statistics began in 1983.

The government's 2025 cause of death briefing recorded 14,144 suicide deaths across all ages, down 728 from 14,872 in 2024. The national rate fell 4.7 percent to 27.8 deaths per 100,000, ending two consecutive years of increases.

Schools faced a different direction of change. Education Ministry figures obtained by Democratic Party of Korea Representative Kim Moon-soo recorded 244 deaths among elementary, middle and high school students in 2025, compared with 221 in 2024 and 148 in 2020. That represents an increase of 64.9 percent in five years.

The government's response now combines a target for teenage suicide prevention through 2035 with a broader national plan running to 2030. More emergency teams, counseling support and medical treatment are planned. Research into students who died, however, points to a problem that resources alone must also address: distress was often visible before help reached them.

For families and schools, the central issue is whether a young person expressing despair can reach a trusted adult and receive continuing care. The figures connect that everyday need with growing pressure on education, health services and government policy.

How the increase developed

The teenage rate rose from 4.2 deaths per 100,000 in 2015 to 6.5 in 2020, then increased every year through 2025. A rate measures deaths relative to the size of a population, allowing comparisons even when the number of teenagers changes.

The recent timeline shows how steadily that risk has grown:

• 2020: The teenage suicide rate reached 6.5 deaths per 100,000.
• 2021: It rose to 7.1.
• 2022: It increased to 7.2.
• 2023: It reached 7.9.
• 2024: It rose to 8.0.
• 2025: It reached 8.6, a record in the statistical series beginning in 1983.

The increase from 2015 to 2025 was about 105 percent. Returning to 4.2 by 2035, the government's stated target, would therefore bring the rate back to its level two decades earlier. From the latest figure of 8.6, reaching that target requires a reduction of about 51 percent.

Government measures also cited 396 teenage suicide deaths in 2025, compared with 273 in 2016. That total covers teenagers as an age group; the Education Ministry's 244 deaths cover students enrolled in elementary, middle and high schools. Schools are a major route to assistance, while services outside education must also reach young people.

Where student deaths increased

High school students accounted for 146 of the 244 student deaths in 2025, almost 60 percent. Middle school students accounted for 92, while six children were in elementary school. The distribution puts much of the immediate demand for support in secondary education, while showing that younger children also need care.

Seoul recorded 51 student deaths, up from 40 in 2024. Busan's total rose from seven to 22, more than tripling. South Gyeongsang province recorded 25, compared with 20 a year earlier.

Gyeonggi province, which has the country's largest student population, recorded 51 deaths, down from 63 in 2024 and its lowest total since 2021. Seoul and Gyeonggi together accounted for 102 deaths, about 42 percent of the national student total. Comparing regional risk also requires the number of students living in each area.

Kim Moon-soo, the lawmaker who obtained the ministry figures, called for action across the education system:

The Education Ministry, metropolitan and provincial education offices, district education offices and schools must all work to prevent children from taking their own lives.

Family problems, illness and school pressure overlap

Education Ministry records listed family issues as contributing factors in 77 student deaths, mental health issues in 58, academic and career concerns in 54, and difficulties in relationships in 38. More than one factor could be recorded for each death. The chief contributing factors were unknown in 79 cases.

A teenager may be coping with depression while also experiencing conflict at home, bullying, financial difficulties or anxiety about examinations and future work. Support may therefore require several responses at once, such as clinical treatment, help with family relationships and changes at school.

Park Hyun-jung, head of the government's population trends division, said analyses of 2024 data identified mental health and family problems as important factors. The reasons behind the 2025 increase still require deeper analysis, she said. The statistical agency counts deaths and identifies their medical causes; examining the circumstances surrounding suicide requires further research.

The National Youth Policy Institute has described how social media can add pressure during an age when belonging and acceptance matter greatly. Visible popularity measures, comparisons involving appearance, grades and wealth, and exclusion or ridicule in group chats can carry social difficulties beyond the school day.

Kwon Se-won, head of policy research at the Korea Foundation for Suicide Prevention, has called for schools to give all students time to care for their mental well-being alongside academic achievement. Her proposal places emotional support within ordinary school life, rather than limiting it to students already receiving crisis services.

Warning signs often appeared before deaths

Hong Hyun-ju, a professor of psychiatry at Hallym University College of Medicine, led a study examining 36 elementary, middle and high school students who died by suicide between 2015 and 2021. Researchers found that 29 students, or 81 percent, had shown verbal, behavioral or emotional warning signs.

Verbal signs appeared in 69.4 percent of cases. They included expressions of wanting to die or feeling worthless. Researchers also identified behavioral changes and noticeable changes in mood. Thirty-five of the 36 students had been diagnosed with a mental health condition, but only three regularly received medication.

The study identified stigma and negative perceptions of mental illness as barriers to seeking or continuing treatment. Hong described how some students had sought help from adults:

Some of them reached out to teachers or parents for help, but their concerns were brushed aside or they didn't get the help they needed. After going through that, they ended up trying to deal with their problems on their own.

Hong called for psychological autopsies, which reconstruct the circumstances before a death to understand risk factors and opportunities for help. She also urged teaching young people to recognize and express emotions and work through problems. Her findings direct attention to what happens after a warning sign: whether an adult responds, care becomes available and the student stays connected to support.

AI conversations create another research need

A Health and Welfare Ministry survey found that 69.2 percent of 201 teenagers aged 15 to 18 who had recently used generative artificial intelligence used it for emotional purposes. Those purposes included everyday conversation, emotional connection and mental health counseling.

Among those teenage respondents, 51.7 percent described themselves as somewhat or very dependent on AI compared with other people. The figure was 40.0 percent across users of all ages. The teenage results describe the surveyed group of recent AI users.

The Korea Foundation for Suicide Prevention told Democratic Party lawmaker Seo Young Seok that it had conducted no research into suicide and self harm risks associated with teenage use of generative AI. Seo called for research into why teenagers bring their worries to AI, the relationships they form with it and its responses during crises.

A 2025 Boston University study evaluated 10 chatbots presented as providing mental health support for teenagers or emotional connection. Across 60 harmful or inappropriate suggestions made through fictional teenage scenarios, the chatbots responded supportively to 19, about 32 percent. The researchers called for safety assessments and protective measures.

The government is also pursuing AI tools to monitor harmful online information, summarize counseling records and identify people at risk earlier. The foundation said limits in confirming age information make it difficult to assess results specifically for teenagers. Youth research and reliable age information are therefore practical needs for evaluating those projects.

More teams and counseling for schools

The teenage prevention strategy announced in June aims to bring the suicide rate to 4.2 per 100,000 by 2035, using 8.0 in 2024 as its starting point. The Education Ministry plans to expand emergency mental health teams that visit schools from 56 in 2025 to 100 by 2030, an increase of nearly 79 percent.

Funding for student mental health vouchers has risen from 8 billion won to 10 billion won, a 25 percent increase. The program now includes counseling as well as medical treatment, widening the kinds of assistance students can receive.

Emergency teams provide a response when a school needs urgent professional support. Vouchers address access to individual care. Kwon's call for mental health programs for all students adds a third task: reaching children before distress becomes an emergency.

The plans also create different deadlines. Schools are due to have the expanded emergency team network by 2030, while the teenage rate target runs to 2035. Maintaining treatment and counseling between those milestones will matter for students whose difficulties continue beyond a single appointment or crisis.

A broader national plan sets a 2030 target

South Korea's sixth Basic Plan for Suicide Prevention, finalized on October 12, sets a national target of no more than 18.9 deaths per 100,000 by 2030, compared with 29.1 in 2024. The intended reduction is about 35 percent.

Five temporary protection pilot sites are planned for 2027. They would provide up to 24 hours of stabilization, counseling and referrals for people who attempt suicide but are not hospitalized. A National Suicide Response Office is also scheduled to begin operations in 2027, tracking the response from emergency dispatch through treatment and continuing care.

The proposed budget would increase average staffing at suicide prevention centers from five workers in 2026 to about 7.1 in 2027. Intensive treatment beds for acute mental illness are planned to rise from 391 in 2025 to 2,000 by 2030.

The plan links suicide prevention with financial and social assistance. A debt counseling hotline, 1375, was scheduled to launch in October, with counselors at suicide prevention hotline 109 referring callers with debt problems to the Credit Counseling and Recovery Service. Officials also plan to expand categories for recording contributing motives from seven broad groups to 27 more detailed categories.

President Lee Jae-myung returned to the youth issue at an October 13, 2026 cabinet meeting. He said national suicides had fallen by more than 10 percent in the first half of 2026 while youth suicide had increased slightly. He called for stronger school communication and emotional connection, saying:

We must seek strong, new measures to address academic stress, excessive competition, and bullying.

What the wider statistics reveal

South Korea's KOSIS suicide rate series places the national peak at 31.7 deaths per 100,000 in 2011. The rate declined in subsequent years, then fluctuated before rising in 2023 and 2024 and falling in 2025.

National figures also show a difference between teenagers and adults by sex. Across all ages, the male rate was 39.7 per 100,000 in 2025, compared with 16.0 for females. Among people aged 10 to 19, the female rate was higher; from the 20s onward, the male rate was higher.

Older adults continued to have the highest suicide rates. The rate among people aged 80 and older was 52.6, down from 53.3 in 2024. People in their 60s recorded a decline from 31.9 to 29.0, while those in their 70s fell from 35.6 to 32.9.

For international comparisons, the government calculated an age standardized rate of 24.9, against an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average of 10.9, about 2.3 times as high. Age standardization adjusts for differences in how old national populations are. South Korea's rate was the highest among OECD members.

Youth prevention extends beyond secondary school

The Youth Policy Evidence Center's youth mortality statistics cover ages 9 to 24, a wider population than the teenage figures. They recorded 931 suicide deaths in 2023, a rate of 11.7 per 100,000 that matched the previous high in 2021.

Suicide was the leading cause of death in that wider youth population every year from 2011 through 2023. In 2023, it accounted for 931 of 1,867 deaths, almost half. Accidents accounted for 257 deaths and cancer for 193.

The 2025 national briefing likewise identified suicide as the leading cause of death from the teenage years through the 40s. Among people in their 40s, it overtook cancer in 2024 and remained first in 2025. Prevention therefore involves transitions beyond school, including further education, employment and adult health services.

People in South Korea experiencing suicidal thoughts or worried about someone else can call 109, the suicide prevention hotline, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Callers needing English language assistance can request a translator.

Key Points

• The suicide rate among people aged 10 to 19 reached a record 8.6 per 100,000 in 2025, more than double its 2015 level.
• National suicide deaths fell to 14,144, while student deaths rose to 244.
• Family difficulties, mental health conditions, academic concerns and relationship problems appeared in student records, sometimes together.
• A study of 36 students who died found warning signs in 29 cases.
• The government plans 100 school emergency mental health teams by 2030 and a teenage suicide rate of 4.2 by 2035.
• The broader national plan targets a rate of no more than 18.9 by 2030, with new protection services planned for 2027.
• South Korea's suicide prevention hotline, 109, operates around the clock.