South Korea's cremation rate rises to 76.9% in 2013

By Park Sae-jin Posted : October 20, 2014, 17:15 Updated : October 20, 2014, 17:15
About 76.9 percent of South Koreans who died last year were cremated, an increase of 2.9 percentage points from the previous year, the government reported Monday. 

The figure represents a four-fold jump compared to 19.1 percent in 1993. 

The cremation rate of men stood at 80 percent, higher than 73 percent for women, according to the report of the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

The cremation rate was higher for people who died at a younger age. Some 92.5 percent of people who died at the age 60 or younger were incinerated, compared with 72.6 percent for people aged 61 or older.

Busan recorded the highest cremation rate of 89.2 percent, followed by Incheon with 87.8 percent, Ulsan with 84.4 percent and Seoul with 84.2 percent. The comparable figure stood at 59.3 percent for South Chungcheong Province; 59.9 percent for Jeju Island, 60.8 percent for South Jeolla Province and 63.2 percent for North Chungcheong Province.
기사 이미지 확대 보기
닫기