Smoking-Related Deaths in South Korea Near 70,000, Report Says (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly 70,000 people in South Korea died in 2023 from illnesses directly linked to smoking, while the social and economic costs of tobacco use approached 15 trillion won, according to a government-commissioned study released Thursday.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said the research estimated 68,536 deaths attributable to direct smoking that year — including about 60,200 men and 8,300 women — based on national mortality data and long-term health cohort studies.
Lung cancer accounted for the largest share of smoking-related deaths among both men and women, the study found.
The findings were compiled by a research team at Seoul National University under a commission from the disease control agency, using cause-of-death statistics from Statistics Korea and epidemiological data tracking the health effects of smoking.
Smoking-related deaths had risen steadily in recent years, from about 61,000 in 2020 to more than 72,000 in 2022, before declining in 2023. Researchers attributed the decrease largely to a reduction in the overall number of deaths among people aged 30 and older, a key population group used in the analysis.
Smoking Shown to Account for Vast Majority of Lung Cancer Risk, Public Insurer Says (Yonhap)
The broader toll of smoking on society continued to grow.
The study estimated the total social and economic cost of direct smoking at 14.95 trillion won in 2023, an increase of 8.8 percent from the previous year. These costs include direct expenses such as medical treatment and transportation, as well as indirect losses stemming from reduced productivity due to illness and premature death.
More than half of the total burden — about 7.8 trillion won — was attributed to productivity losses from early deaths. Medical expenses accounted for roughly 5.3 trillion won, followed by productivity losses from medical care use and caregiving costs.
Public health officials said the findings underscore the persistent impact of smoking on both national health and economic sustainability, even as overall smoking rates have gradually declined.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
