Last year, 297 agricultural workers died during farming activities… Only 15 were included in occupational accident statistics.

One Farmer Dies Daily… Three Times the Average of Industrial Accidents
Assemblywoman Lim Mi-ae, “Urgent Need for Institutional and Policy Improvements for Farmers’ Safety”, Assemblywoman Lim Mi-ae of the Democratic Party. Provided by Lim Mi-ae’s office,
, ‘Every year, nearly 300 farmers die while working, but these incidents are not properly accounted for in the industrial accident statistics.’,
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, ‘According to data submitted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation to Democratic Party Assemblywoman Lim Mi-ae, a member of the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Forestry, Livestock, Food, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Committee, 297 farmers died from accidents during agricultural work in 2024. The mortality rate is 2.99 per 10,000 people, which is three times the overall industrial accident mortality rate of 0.98 per 10,000.’,
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, ‘Annually, 232 farmers died in 2021, 253 in 2022, 276 in 2023, and already 127 in the first half of 2025. In the past five years, a total of 1,858 farmers have died during agricultural work.’,
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, ‘The number of those injured in non-fatal accidents is also large. More than 50,000 farmers receive insurance payments each year due to injuries sustained from farming accidents. In 2021, there were 52,774; in 2022, 52,386; in 2023, 57,776; in 2024, 50,852; and in the first half of 2025, there have already been 25,737.’,
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, ‘However, the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s industrial accident statistics only include those who are insured, meaning only a small fraction of farmer deaths are counted. Industrial accident insurance is mandatory only for agricultural corporations or those with five or more regular workers, meaning most self-employed farmers are excluded.’,
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, ‘Statistics on farmers who die or are injured from farming accidents can be verified through the payouts from the Farmers’ Safety Insurance. While industrial accident statistics recorded only 15 agricultural deaths in 2024, the same period had 297 deaths according to the Farmers’ Safety Insurance, reflecting a 20-fold discrepancy.’,
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, ‘Yet, the figures from the Farmers’ Safety Insurance only reflect a portion of the accidents among farmers. Given that the average participation rate in Farmers’ Safety Insurance over the past four years is 66%, the actual number of farming-related accidents might be higher.’,
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, ‘Assemblywoman Lim Mi-ae stated, “To ensure there are no blind spots in the safety of ‘all workers,’ as promised by President Lee Jae-myung, it is urgent to strengthen laws and systems related to farmers’ safety accident prevention, establish a dedicated organization within the government for preventing farming accidents, and produce official national statistics on farmer deaths due to accidents.”‘,
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