Deaths of individuals living alone surpassed three-thousand nationwide last year, continuing an annual increase of some nine percent.

The health ministry on Tuesday released the findings of a five-year survey on "lonely deaths" covering the years from 2017 to 2021, the first official compilation of such statistics on the issue by the state.

The number of such deaths, defined as deaths of people living alone who were socially isolated, recorded three-thousand-378 in 2021, up from some 24-hundred in 2017.

The figure accounts for one-point-one percent of all deaths last year, many of whom were men in their 50s and 60s, with suicides comprising around 16 to 19 percent of all lonely deaths each year.

The government attributes the phenomenon to the changing family structure and a rise in the number of people living alone, which last year accounted for more than 33 percent of all households. 

The ministry also noted that middle-aged men struggle with poor life satisfaction amid layoffs and divorces while younger people are more vulnerable to suicide.

The government plans to devise a prevention plan based on the findings.