Seoul, Sep 28 (IANS): Cancer remained the top cause of death in South Korea, with the number of fatalities hitting a record high last year, a government report revealed on Tuesday.

In 2020, 304,948 deaths were reported in South Korea, up 3.3 per cent from a year earlier. It marked the highest annual number since Statistics Korea began compiling such data in 1983, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The statistics agency said 593.9 deaths were reported per 100,000 South Koreans last year.

It also said 160.1 per 100,000 people died of cancer last year. Cancer has been the top cause of death in the country since record keeping began.

Heart disease is the second-largest cause of death for South Koreans, with 63 fatalities per 100,000 people, followed by pneumonia with 43.3 deaths.

Last year, 950 people died from Covid-19, accounting for 0.3 per cent of deaths.

The 10 leading causes of death included cerebrovascular disease, suicide, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease.

The report showed suicide remained the top cause of death for people aged between 10 and 39 in South Korea in 2020, a chronic problem that has plagued the Asian country for more than a decade.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people in their 40s and 50s.

A total of 13,195 people took their own lives in 2020, down 4.4 per cent from 2019. On average, 36.1 people die every day from suicide.

The suicide rate per 100,000 people stood at 23.5 in 2020, much higher than the 10.9 average among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a group of 36 mostly rich and advanced nations.