34,427 committed suicide in Japan in 2003

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 23 Jul 2004 - 16:00 PDT

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A record 34,427 men and women in Japan committed suicide in 2003, marking an increase of 7% --or 2,284 people--from the previous year, the Japanese National Police Agency said Thursday.

The figure was an all-time high since the NPA started compiling similar statistics in 1978.

According to the NPA report, the number of those who killed themselves out of despair over economic difficulties in 2003 exceeded 8,000 for the first time.

Among others, suicide committed as a result of difficulties of daily life was most prevalent among those in their 40s and 50s, indicative of the harsh economic realities faced by middle-aged people, including bankruptcies and a cut in the number of corporate employees.

The ratio of people who took their own lives in 2003 stood at 27 per 100,000, up 1.8 from 2002.

Judging from notes and circumstantial evidence found in suicide cases reported last year, the NPA said health problems were the predominant motive for such destructive behavior. According to the NPA, 15,416 men and women opted to kill themselves because they were so distraught over their diseases and other health problems in 2003, an increase of 4.1 percent from the previous year. CONTINUES......The Daily Yomiuri