Over 20% of S. Korea’s single-person households at risk of solitary death
The number of solitary deaths in the country came in at 3,378 in 2021, recording an annual average growth rate of 8.8 percent for the past five years.
Over 20 percent of South Korea’s single-person households were at risk of solitary death amid the changed family structure and the spread of an individualistic culture, the welfare ministry said Thursday.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare survey on a sample of 9,471 single-member households conducted from November to December last year, around 1,525,000 people nationwide were estimated to be at risk of solitary death.
It represented 21.3 percent of the total single-person households and 3 percent of the country’s population.
The solitary death refers to a death in which a person living alone dies of suicide or disease and the body is found after a certain period of time, according to the definition in relevant local law.
The ministry said the social isolation and disconnection recently deepened due to the increased family structure of one-person households, the spread of an individualistic culture and the prolonged pandemic.
The proportion of single-member households continued to grow from 28.6 percent of the total households in 2017 to 30.2 percent in 2019 and 33.4 percent in 2021.
The number of solitary deaths in the country came in at 3,378 in 2021, recording an annual average growth rate of 8.8 percent for the past five years.
