The number of newly diagnosed tuberculosis patients in South Korea last year was the lowest in 15 years, government data showed Thursday.

According to the report, 63.5 per 100,000 Koreans were newly diagnosed with the infectious disease last year. This is 8.1 percentage points lower than the year before.

However, the report showed the number of newly diagnosed patients aged between 10 and 14 had also increased over the same period, from 4.2 patients per 100,000 to 5 patients.

South Korea has the highest incidence rate of TB among member countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, partly due to the lack of epidemiological research of the disease after the Korean War (1950-53).