Suicides in Japan up for first time in 11 years, as coronavirus stress hits women harder

Japan reported 20,919 people died by suicide in 2020, up 3.7 per cent from the previous year, with 14 per cent more suicides recorded among women

The country had worked to reduce its suicide rate, but the Covid-19 pandemic increased factors like economic hardship, stress, abuse and extra burdens

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A volunteer responds an incoming call at the Tokyo Befrienders call centre, a Tokyo suicide hotline. Photo: Reuters

Published: 4:00pm, 22 Jan 2021Updated: 4:05pm, 22 Jan 2021

The number of people taking their own lives in Japan rose for the first time in over a decade last year, as the coronavirus pandemic reversed years of progress combating a stubbornly high suicide rate.

Japan’s health and welfare ministry said on Friday that 20,919 people died by suicide in 2020 according to preliminary data, up 3.7 per cent from the previous year. That compares with 3,460 deaths from coronavirus in the same period.

It marks the first year-on-year rise in suicides in more than a decade, with women and children in particular taking their lives at higher rates.

Japan has long had the highest suicide rate among the Group of Seven advanced countries – though regionally South Korea registers higher figures. But the government has worked in recent years to better support people with mental health needs.

Japan has seen a smaller coronavirus outbreak than some countries, avoiding the harsh lockdown measures put in place elsewhere, and a fall in suicides during the first half of 2020 raised hopes that the pandemic’s impact might be limited.