[Young journalist Kim Jiyul] Amid the rapid increase in drug consumption in Korea, different drug consumption patterns are clearly appearing for each generation. In particular, it has been confirmed that while the use of antidepressants among children and adolescents has surged over the past five years, bringing mental health issues to the forefront, daily use of gastrointestinal drugs has become common among the elderly.

According to data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service on the 11th, daily drug consumption per 1,000 people recorded 1491.7DID as of 2024, up 4.2% from the previous year. This means that when the recommended daily dose set by the World Health Organization(WHO) based on the adult weight of 70kg is applied, one Korean person is taking about 1.5 days worth of medicine on average every day. 

As drug consumption increased, the economic burden also increased. Each South Korean spent 842,594 won per year on medication. When converted into dollars, the amount increased by 0.5 percent to 617.8 dollars. Among all drugs, medications for digestive and metabolic disorders were consumed the most, far exceeding the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

The most noticeable part of the statistics is the steep increase in the use of depressive drugs. Over the past five years(2020~2024), the total use of depressive drugs has increased by 51.01%.

In particular, the consumption of depressive drugs among children and adolescents increased sharply. Compared to five years ago, use among those aged 5 to 9 increased by 244.5%, those aged 10 to 14 by 157.5%, and those aged 15 to 19 by 128.3%. The primary background is the increase in psychiatric treatment as awareness of mental health issues among young people has grown.

In both gender and age, the group that took the most depressive drugs was women over 80 years of age, and about 15 people per 1000 people per day were taking the drug. 

Excessive intake of gastrointestinal drugs, centered on the elderly, has also emerged as a key problem. An analysis of the amount of proton pump inhibitors, a typical gastric acid secretion inhibitor, has shown an increase of 52.9% over the past five years. The amount of use has increased significantly with age, with more than 10% of the population aged 65 or older taking this gastrointestinal drug every day. 

In particular, 203.3 women over the age of 80 consumed the drug per 1,000 people a day, ranking overwhelmingly first in all age groups. 

It is interpreted as a result of the increase in the elderly population and the increase in prescriptions for gastrointestinal protection due to chronic diseases.

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