South Koreans’ life satisfaction drops in 2023, snapping 4-year rise: report
South Koreans' average satisfaction with life decreased for the first time in four years in 2023, ranking 33rd out of the 38 member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a government report showed Monday, Yonhap reports.
The level of life satisfaction came to 6.4 points in 2023 on a 10-point scale, edging down 0.1 point from a year ago, according to the annual report on South Koreans' quality of life by Statistics Korea.
South Korea's life satisfaction level was lower compared with the OECD average of 6.69 points to rank 33rd, according to the World Happiness Report issued by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
The life satisfaction level was lower among households with a monthly income of below 1 million won (US$700) at 5.7 points, but higher among households with a monthly income of over 6 million won at 6.6 points.
By age, those in their 40s had the highest life satisfaction level of 6.6 points, followed by those in their 20s and 30s, both at 6.5 points.
Those above the age of 60 showed a relatively lower satisfaction level at 6.2 points.
Statistics Korea said the number of suicides per 100,000 people gained 2.1 on-year to 27.3 in 2023, the highest since 2014.
The number of crimes per 100,000 people also sharply increased to 6,439 cases in 2022 from 3,806 cases in 2020 due to a jump in property crimes.
The number of property crimes soared to 5,397 cases per 100,000 people from 2,928 cases over the same period, while the number of violent crimes rose to 1,041 cases from 878 cases.
Meanwhile, the report also showed that South Korea's employment rate rose for the fourth consecutive year to nearly 63 percent in 2024, a higher level than pre-pandemic levels.
The employment rate reached 62.7 percent last year, logging an increase for the fourth straight year from 60.1 percent tallied the previous year.
The figure was higher than 60.9 percent in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.
The employment rate of college graduates rose for the third consecutive year from 65.1 percent in 2020 to 70.3 percent in 2023.
Earlier, it was reported that South Korea seeks to toughen measures against workplace bullying.
