People living in urban areas are more likely to experience mental stress while those in rural areas are more likely to drink and smoke, data showed Monday.

Findings in the 2022 Community Health Survey, conducted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, showed Seoulites recorded the lowest rate of smoking among the six groups studied, but that they had higher levels of alcohol consumption. Compared to other areas, however, they are less likely to binge drink.

The survey looked into the health behaviors and well-being of urban and rural populations, dividing them into six groups depending on the community size and access to medical services.

The smoking rate of people in Seoul was 16.3 percent, the lowest among the six, while the highest rate of 20.8 percent was recorded in rural areas, particularly those living in smaller counties. Country-wide, the smoking rate stands at 19.3 percent.

Residents of Seoul tend to consume alcohol more frequently per month than those in small rural counties. In Seoul, 59.4 percent of citizens said they drank more than once per month in the past year, while the percentage of people who drank more than once per month was 5.5 percentage points lower among the small-county group.

When it comes to binge drinking, defined as consuming more than seven shots for men and more than five shots for women twice a week, the percentage of Seoul residents dropped to 10.6 percent, which was 3.3 percentage points lower than that of rural inhabitants.

Rural individuals are less likely to suffer from mental stress than those in urban areas. In Seoul, 25.7 percent of the population reported feeling significant stress, marking the highest percentage. The lowest percentage of 22.5 percent was reported by people living in smaller counties.

On the rate of depression, specifically among those who had experienced severe depression for more than two weeks in the past year, people living in rural environments recorded the lowest rate at 6.2 percent.

The survey encompassed a total of 258 cities, provinces and counties in Korea where public health institutions are located, categorized into six groups: Districts in Seoul; districts in metropolitan cities and cities with a population over 300,000; cities with a population less than 300,000; urban and rural complex cities; counties; and “counties with community-level health centers.”

The list of groups is arranged in descending order based on the number of people in the area, as well as medical service providers. In the sixth group (counties with community-level health centers), the public-run facilities are the primary provider of health care.