Analysis of data from National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) of South Korea reveals that in 2024 the number of people diagnosed with depression surged to a record high of over 1.1m.
A media report published in the https://www.koreabiomed.com provides the details of the analysis carried out by Representative Seo Mi-hwa of the Democratic Party of Korea and his team. The analysis found that the number of Koreans diagnosed with depression in 2024 notched a record high 1,106,603, a 32.9% increase from 832,483 in 2020.
During the same period, the number of medical visits for depression also increased by 33.3% from 6,394,820 to 8,524,815.
Analysis of 2024 data by gender and age revealed that female patients numbered 743,590, accounting for 67.2% of the total, while male patients numbered 363,013, representing 32.8%. Additionally, women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s—a socioeconomically active age group—comprised 33.2% of all patients.
Representative Seo said, “For mental health issues, early detection and timely intervention are paramount. To achieve this, expanding national mental health infrastructure is urgently needed. Depression is a common mental health condition that anyone can experience, akin to a cold of the mind. Social efforts are necessary to improve the negative perception surrounding depression.”