Last year, more than 1.1 million people with depression, the highest ever...Female Patients More Than Double Men's
Sep 02, 2025
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According to data submitted by Seo Mi-hwa (Democratic Party of Korea) of the National Health Insurance Corporation on the 2nd, the number of depression patients in 2024 was 1,106,603, up 32.9% from 2020 (832,483). During the same period, the number of treatments increased 33.3% from 6,394,820 to 8,524,815.
The number of depressive patients has increased by 7.4% annually, showing a steep increase. By year, there are 832,483 people in ▲ 2020, 915,910 people in ▲ 2021, 1 million 10,046 people in 2022, ▲ 1,043 people in 2023, and ▲ 1,106,603 people in 2024.
As a result of the analysis by gender and age, 743,590 (67.2%) female patients were more than twice as many as 363,013 (32.8%) male patients. In addition, female patients in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, who are socially and economically active, accounted for 33.2% of the total.
By age, the increase in the number of children under the age of 10 was remarkable. The number of under-teens jumped 118.2% in five years from 991 in 2020 to 2,162 in 2024. During the same period, the ▲ teens increased by 83.5%, the ▲ 30s increased by 69.7%, and the ▲ 40s increased by 52.4%. Analysts say there is a clear increase in the younger generation and children and adolescents.
By region, the pattern was generally consistent with the size of the population. Gyeonggi-do Province had the highest number of 305,293 (27%), followed by ▲ Seoul with 253,534, ▲ Busan with 79,084 and ▲ Incheon with 64,789.
Representative Seo Mi-hwa emphasized that `It is most important not to miss the golden time for mental health problems, and to detect them early and intervene' and"to this end, it is urgent to expand mental health infrastructure at the national level.' Then "Depression is like a cold in the mind that anyone can suffer"More than anything else, social efforts are needed to improve negative perceptions of depression."
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
