A number of studies on the trends of socioeconomic differences in suicide mortality have indicated that these inequality gaps have widened over time and highlight that certain occupations have more suicide risk than others. However suicide rates according to occupation based socioeconomic position have not been frequently studied in Korea. The purpose of this study is to report trends and inequality of suicide according to occupation based social class during 1993-2007 in Korea and to identify occupations with significantly high standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) and proportional mortality ratios (PMRs) for both men and women.

Korean census records for the years 1995, 2000, and 2005 were linked with the cause of death records from Korean National Statistical Office (KNSO) for the periods 1993-1997, 1998-2003, and 2004-2007 respectively. This data was used to calculate age adjusted proportional mortality ratios (PMRs) and standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) for both men and women aged 25~54 years according to five occupation based socioeconomic positions.

Among men, the agricultural-fishery-forestry group had the greatest suicide rate (SMR: 341) with a high PMR (113) and the manual labor group showed the highest PMR (118), while the managers-professional occupation group showed the lowest sPMR (78) and SMR (21). Among women, the agricultural-fishery group had the highest score in SMR (316) and PMR (130), and the technical-artificer group showed the lowest sPMR (71) and SMR (27). The inequality gaps in the suicide mortality rate according to occupation had widened during 1998-2002, but showed a recovery trend plot after 2003.

Although the occupation based socioeconomic inequalities show a recovery trend after 2003, the excess inequality from suicide remains as high as it was prior to the 2002 year in some occupational groups. The results of the current study indicate that the manual and agricultural-fishery-forestry groups were high risk groups of suicide.