Understanding the Rapid Increase in Life Expectancy in South Korea

Abstract

Objectives. We assessed life expectancy increases in the past several decades in South Korea by age and specific causes of death. Methods. We applied Arriaga's decomposition method to life table data (1970–2005) and mortality statistics (1983–2005) to estimate age- and cause-specific contributions to changes in life expectancy. Results. Reductions in infant mortality made the largest age-group contribution to the life expectancy increase. Reductions in cardiovascular diseases (particularly stroke and hypertensive diseases) contributed most to longer life expectancy between 1983 and 2005 (30% in males and 28% in females). Lower rates of stomach cancer, liver disease, tuberculosis, and external-cause mortality accounted for 30% of the male and 20% of the female increase in longevity. However, higher mortality from ischemic heart disease, lung and bronchial cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, diabetes, and suicide offset gains by 10% in both genders. Conclusions. Rapid increases in life expectancy in South Korea were mostly achieved by reductions in infant mortality and in diseases related to infections and blood pressure.

Understanding the contribution of suicide to life expectancy in South Korea

“…First, the increasing incidence of suicides was the single largest factor in dampening the rise in life expectancy in Korea. 6 Consistent with the finding of Yang et al (2010) that suicide decreased life expectancy by 0.2 years among men between 1983 and 2005, we found that suicide reduced the life expectancy by 0.2 years between 1995 and 2010. Unlike that study, however, we decomposed this contribution of suicide to life expectancy into an age component and an incidence component, because the reduction in life expectancy due to suicide is a function of a change in overall suicide rates (incidence component) plus an increasing average age of suicide deaths.…”

“…Given the rapid increase in suicide, it puzzled us that the change in suicide had reduced life expectancy by only 0.2 years among men in Korea between 1983(Yang et al 2010. Perhaps the impact of rising suicide rates on life expectancy had been muted by the rising age of suicide victims.…”

“…Although Korea's death registration reached 100% by the 1980s with mandatory reporting requirements Yang et al 2010), suicide deaths might still be underreported. Suicide deaths are also available from the Korean National Policy Agency.…”

“…The WHO mortality data contain information on the underlying cause of death and basic sociodemographic information. In Korea it is mandatory to report all deaths within one month, and Korean death registration reached 100% by the late 1980s (Khang, Lynch, and Kaplan 2005;Yang et al 2010). 5 We stratified the mortality data by cause of death to create the cause-and age-specific multiple-decrement life table data.…”

“…The alarming rise in Korea's suicide rate has occurred alongside a rapid increase in life expectancy. In 1960, life expectancy in Korea was only 53.0 years, which was well below the OECD average; by 2012 it had risen to 81.4 years, surpassing the OECD average (World Bank Group 2013;Yang et al 2010) (see Figure 2). This equates to an increase of nearly 28.4 years over the last five decades, or more than one-half year each year, a remarkable gain.…”