Suicides Drop for 8th Straight Year in Japan in 2017

January 19, 2018

Tokyo- The number of people who committed suicide in Japan in 2017 fell 757, or 3.5 pct, from the previous year to 21,140, down for the eighth consecutive year, a Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry report showed Friday.

The number of suicides per 100,000 people, or the suicide rate, came to 16.7, the lowest since the launch of the statistics in 1978, according to the report compiled on preliminary data provided by the National Police Agency.

Men continued to account for roughly 70 pct of the total number of people who killed themselves in the country, but their numbers fell below 15,000 for the first time in 22 years, at 14,693. Women's reading went down to a record low of 6,447.

Japan saw the number of suicides top 30,000 for 14 straight years since 1998 amid fallout from a financial crisis, with the figure reaching as high as 34,427 in 2003.

From the peak level, suicides decreased by nearly 40 pct in 2017.

"On top of (improved) economic conditions, efforts to prevent suicides by municipalities and groups concerned seem to have produced fruit," a ministry official in charge of the report said.

But pointing out that 58 people still commit suicide each day on average, the official called for implementing finely designed preventive measures by age group and area.

The report also showed that the number of suicides fell in 31 of Japan's 47 prefectures.

Of all prefectures, Akita marked the highest suicide rate, at 24.2, followed by Aomori, at 22.1, and Yamanashi, at 21.9. On the other hand, Osaka was at the bottom of the list, with a suicide rate of 13.2, Kanagawa second from the bottom, with 13.7, and Nara third, with 13.8.

About 70 pct of reasons identified for some 14,600 suicides committed between January and November were health problems, such as depression, while economic plight accounted for 20 pct, family matters 20 pct and work-related problems 13 pct.

People have multiple suicide risks, including joblessness, hard living, burden of nursing care and overwork, the ministry noted.

Almost all age groups saw declines in the number of suicides. But the number slightly grew for those aged 19 and younger due chiefly to school problems. Jiji Press