Seoul, Oct 17 (IANS): More than 3,600 people died alone in their homes in South Korea last year, data showed on Thursday, with middle-aged and elderly men accounting for more than half of such deaths.

The number of "lonely deaths" came to 3,661 in 2023, up from 3,559 the previous year, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Yonhap news agency reported.

The figure indicates that 1.04 out of every 100 deaths in South Korea were attributed to solitary deaths last year.

A "lonely death," or "kodoksa" in Korean, refers to instances where individuals, living in social isolation without any contact with others, die as a result of suicide, illness, or other causes.

"It seems that lonely deaths among people in their 20s and 30s were attributable to failure in finding jobs or being laid off," said Noh Jung-hoon, a welfare official from the health ministry.

"We plan to help them reach out to organisations that can offer job positions, along with measures to help them improve their health condition, which deteriorated during their isolation," he added.

By age group, those in their 60s accounted for 1,146 cases, followed by those in their 50s with 1,097 and those in their 40s with 502.

The report also revealed that males accounted for 84.1 per cent of total solitary deaths, significantly outnumbering women.

Suicides, meanwhile, made up 14.1 per cent of total solitary deaths in 2023, down slightly from 17.3 per cent in 2021.

However, suicides accounted for 59.5 per cent and 71.7 percent of all solitary deaths among individuals in their 20s in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

The ministry added that the findings underscore the need for policies related to solitary deaths to be closely aligned with suicide prevention measures.