South Korea saw a slight drop in the number of suicides during the first year of the pandemic in 2020, but continued to register the highest suicide rate among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD).

According to a 2022 white paper released by the health ministry and the Korea Foundation for Suicide Prevention on Tuesday, 13-thousand-195 people in the country took their lives in 2020, down by 604, or four-point-four percent, from the previous year.

In 2020, suicide ranked fifth in the leading causes of death overall, but was responsible for the most deaths among teens and people in their 20s to 30s.

The number of suicides per 100-thousand people posted 25-point-seven in 2020, dropping by one-point-two from the previous year.

Men accounted for nearly 69 percent of the total, while by age, those in their 50s took up the largest portion at over 26-hundred deaths by suicide in the monitored period.

A review of 2019 statistics revealed that South Korea topped the OECD with a suicide rate of 24-point-six, more than double the group's average of eleven. Korea has held the infamous title since 2003 with the exception of 2016 and 2017. In those two years, Lithuania topped the list.

The health ministry says Seoul's number-one ranking is unlikely to change despite the improvement in 2020.

While seeking prevention measures, the government will also monitor if suicides, which faltered during the pandemic, increase again as daily life returns to normal.