The number of blood donors in Korea increased by over 60,000 people last year to total over 2.9 million people.
However, the share of younger donors has dropped sharply. Donors in their teens and twenties still account for 70 percent of blood donations. Over 1 million teenagers had historically been donors every year, but continuing a steady decline, 914,000 teens donated blood last year.
By occupation, students account for about half of all donations. Giving by civil servants, the self-employed, religious workers, and housewives all took a downturn last year.
Only office workers and soldiers increased in donor numbers. By gender, male blood donors accounted for 72.8 percent of the total, which was 2.7 times the number of female blood donors.
Health officials say thanks to the millions of donors, the lives of severely ill patients, with conditions such as cancer and leukemia, are being safely maintained.