Over 70,000 deaths caused by smoking in 2022: KDCA

In 2022, over 70,000 preventable deaths were attributable to people's smoking habits, with socioeconomic costs resulting from such deaths reaching as high as 13.6 trillion won ($9.89 billion), according to a report released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

According to the KDCA, the number of deaths due to smoking reached 72,689 in 2022, steadily increasing from 61,360 deaths in 2020 and 63,426 deaths in 2021.

The estimates were made based on cohort data and cause-of-death statistics provided by Statistics Korea, which were used to analyze the socioeconomic costs and the number of smoking-related deaths.

Based on such data, the KDCA estimated that the risk of death for smokers was 1.7 times higher for men and 1.8 times higher for women, compared to non-smokers. For those who smoked in the past but currently do not, the death risk was 1.1 times higher for men and 1.3 times higher for women.

The KDCA added that the socioeconomic costs due to smoking also gradually increased to 13.63 trillion won in 2022, from around 12.9 trillion won in 2020 and 13 trillion won in 2021.

Such socioeconomic costs were calculated based on direct and indirect costs resulting from smoking. The direct costs included medical expenses and transportation costs due to smoking-related illnesses, while indirect costs were related to productivity loss due to early deaths and from use of medical services.

According to the KDCA, the largest portion of socioeconomic costs from direct smoking for 2022 was from productivity loss due to early deaths, which accounted for around 53 percent of the total socioeconomic costs, or 7.15 trillion won.

This was followed by medical expenses at 35.1 percent, adding up to 4.79 trillion won, as well as productivity loss due to medical treatment at 8.7 percent or 1.19 trillion won.

“Smoking is a primary health hazard, causing various forms of cancer and other chronic diseases,” said KDCA Commissioner Jee Young-mee in a statement. “Quitting smoking is important not just for the health of each individual but also for a healthy society.”